Arrrrgggg!

[cadas]

Not happy!

Took delivery on Saturday of all oak for next three jobs, one lovely tree, 54mm planks all 5m long from a single tree 700mm dia, no knots, etc, beautiful, just right for the strings I have to make.

Also got two other trees in 34mm for the stair treads.

So this moring I said to the apprentice (just returned from having a cold since Friday : and said, go and cut the thin stuff into 1m lengths for the treads

Can anyone guess what happended next?

[davyowen]

Did you dig a big hole and tell his parents he ran away? ;D

[Alf]

Oooo, nasty. Did you give him a quick apprenticeship on use of expletives and the nature of his parentage...? ;D

Cheers, Alf

[jake]

Did you call him a thin prat?

[dom]

Do you have pictures or a video

[mailee]

He ain't much use if he can't differanciate between thin and thick is he! Doh!

[Lord Nibbo]

mailee said:

He ain't much use if he can't differanciate between thin and thick is he! Doh!

But how would he know what thick is if he is thick.... ;D

[dexteria]

did you chuck a cheap router at him, then smash a sheet of thin mdf over his head? ;D

[jay]

Did you learn a long, hard lesson in the need to enthuse and co-exist with your apprentice?

[cadas]

I'll enthuse him when I see him.

Unfortunately (or fortunately for him) my wife popped in to the workshop just in the aftermath. Alerted by the girly screams she managed to get him into her car and took him home.

Haven't seen him since.

This as also the same apprentice who hung a door upside down....using lift off hinges. He planed it twice because it kept catching on the floor

[dom]

We need to have a word on how to select apprentices

[paulchapman]

Hi Cadas,

In your next career development chat with your apprentice, why not suggest he goes into Google and types in "village" and "idiot" - I'm sure there must be a vacancy somewhere...... ;D

Cheers

Paul

[Alf]

Possibly over-qualified...

[lynx]

looks like you have an "ID ten T" problem

[rich]

I suspect he would make a jolly good cabinet minister, definitely management material anyway.
Rich.

[engineerone]

maybe next time you get an apprentice you should show him pictures of thick bits and thin bits to allow him to show whether he understands which is which.

but from what else you have said, you do wonder whether he knows his left hand from his right, and up from down

so howlong will he be working for nothing to pay for the wood that is wasted. althoug, oak coffins are quite good ;D

you wanted an excuse for a display cabinet.

paul

[seaco]

Your all to soft I would have stayed calm and told him that you now want him to cut them into strips on the table saw then took the crown guard off and then hid the push sticks.... ;D

[Scrit]

seaco said:

Your all to soft I would have stayed calm and told him that you now want him to cut them into strips on the table saw then took the crown guard off and then hid the push sticks.... ;D

I thought taht was the standard OP for you Normites in any case

[seaco]

scrit said:

I thought taht was the standard OP for you Normites in any case

Now that I like Scrit..... ;D

By the way I'm typing this with my elbows....

[cadas]

Scratch one apprentice.........

After a week in hiding he asked if he could come back to work on Monday.

Because he is currently without transport and I am off fitting, I asked my wife to pick him up and take him to the workshop (a 30mile round trip). She banged on his door for half an our trying to wake him up but gave up at 9.30.

He eventually woke at 12.00 and rang her and asked her to come back and give him a lift.

Needless to say my treatment of him last week was little more than a mild ticking off in comparison to what the wife outlined to him.

It's only March, I'm supposed to make them last six months.......

[engineerone]

did you tell the jobcentre you actually wanted someone to WORK ;D

paul

[johnc]

Now i remember why i stuggle by on my own,to the lad its only wood it grows on trees just order some more .Whereas we all know dropping b""""ck!s like that can make the difference between profit and loss .If the lad is history check your position legally ,you dont need a tribunal for unfare dismissal.
cheers john c

[Head clansman]

hi cadas

expensive mistake oops, but come on guys didn't any of you make mistake when you did your apprenticeship, if you didn't do an apprenticeship and just enjoy woodworking come on be honest what mistake have you made? i know i made a few when i was that age.

[Head clansman]

Hi guys one mistake that sticks in my mind was i had to fit a flight of stairs and cut it a full tread short, still cringe when i think about even now .My feet never touched the ground for nearly a week

[engineerone]

i think our general responce is that although all of us still make mistakes, it is a part of the growing and learning process.

sadly you get the impression now that the youngsters both know it all, and think that when they make a mistake, they should not admit it, but blame you for not actually doing the job for them

the education process, along with the blame culture seem to mitigate against anyone being prepared to take the blame for their own stupidity.

unlike jacob i do not think the daily mail is as bad as labour and ken livingstone would like to paint it, in yesterday's which was not april 1st was a report that a risk assessment in a block of flats which was backed by the fire brigade recommends the removal of fire extinguishers in a block of flats cause it would
make the residents think they might be able to help themselves.

thing is of course you have the worry that now, your fire might not be important enough, rather like the cops not finding your break in worthwhile.

interesting, you talked about having to keep the apprentice for only 6 months. what can he learn in that time?

mine lasted about 5 years and i am still learning.

paul