
Youngsters keeping traditional trades alive - DanBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-42441366
======
chiph
The homeowners in Charleston SC found that in the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo
in 1989, the craft skills weren't available to repair their historic homes. So
a group got together and founded the American College of the Building Arts,
which awards a four-year liberal arts degree with concentrations in timber
framing, architectural stonework, ironwork, plasterwork, and woodwork.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNqqomuL-64](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNqqomuL-64)

[http://americancollegeofthebuildingarts.com/](http://americancollegeofthebuildingarts.com/)

Somewhere around 20% of them start their own businesses after graduation. The
rest get heavily recruited by high-end builders and restoration firms.

~~~
nerdponx
I frequently wish I had taken up a career like this instead of going into data
science.

~~~
3pt14159
Eh. I've done both. Data science is better.

There are drag days to be sure, but having to get up at 5 in the morning every
day and working until your whole body is sore then having to do it again sucks
if you have to do it every day.

~~~
jimkri
This is exactly why I did not get into the trades. I love doing that type of
work and working with my hands. But my dad who has been doing
construction/electrical work for over 30 years now has trouble using his hands
at times or holding a screwdriver. So that basically convinced me from doing
it.

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blattimwind
> Training an apprentice for just one day can reduce a craftsperson's income
> by 20%, according to the Heritage Crafts Association (HCA).

We're seeing the same thing with senior developers: "No no no, don't mentor
the juniors, your productive output is waay to valuable to waste it on them"

~~~
tropshop
I'm throwing out a generalization, but developers tend to have destructive
personality traits when it comes to collaboration. I've never seen mentorship
discouraged for those who work well with other people. It can level up a team
and compound productivity. If you are seen as easily triggered or judgemental,
your manager is wise to limit your interactions, since you can still be a
productive individual contributor.

~~~
busterarm
I've seen it... Honestly though, I see it more in specific developer
communities than others.

The "headphones on all day, don't speak to me, no meetings, no I won't explain
my code review/feature request/JIRA ticket/etc" folks are specifically who I'm
referring to.

I've found it pretty rare at non-Rails Ruby jobs -- they're generally very
collaborative teams. I'd probably start a flame war if I mentioned where I
have seen it fairly consistently though.

~~~
pjmlp
I never got how that mentality survives, in the majority of companies where I
worked that would be a pretty bad evaluation score in soft skills area.

~~~
mywittyname
They get stuff done.

Maybe you're a collaborative person so you get put on teams where that's more
highly weighted. I'm more of a "don't talk to me / I hate meetings" developer;
I get excellent evaluations, but I almost always work independently and the
groups I work with quickly pick up on my temperament.

I will say that I'm certain I'd be shown the door if I didn't have a track
record of going off into the Batcave for a few months and coming back with
cool products.

------
bri3d
Major luxury watchmakers are in such desperate need of not only service
technicians but also full-blown watchmakers to the point that tuition is free
(via private scholarship/subsidy) at all American watchmaking programs. I am
surprised more people don't go into this industry - the pay isn't great by
software standards, but it's reasonable by trade standards and the working
conditions are better than in many other trades.

~~~
gpm
I'm not surprised, it's not clear that traditional watches have a future at
all. Right now they are still a fancy fashion accessory, but it wouldn't shock
me to see that change in the next decade or two.

Betting your future livelyhood on an industry like that continuing to exist
seems like a risky prospect for little reward, except to the extent that the
skills you learn will be transferable to another industry.

~~~
maxxxxx
I am pretty convinced that high end watches ($5000+) will be around for a long
time. In terms of functionality a smart watch is probably better but I just
like mechanical watches and I know a lot of people who feel the same way.

~~~
rsynnott
I’m sure there’ll always be some market, but looking at the numbers it
wouldn’t be unreasonable to speculate that the sector is currently in a
bubble.

And it’s obviously very vulnerable to recession.

------
twic
My dad is involved with a sailing charity that runs apprenticeships in
traditional boatbuilding:

[http://pioneerck18.org/page4/index.html](http://pioneerck18.org/page4/index.html)

They restore and maintain the yachts that the trust sails, and build rowing
gigs which it sells. There is apparently a booming gig-rowing scene, although
it doesn't look like much fun to me.

Meanwhile in France, they have a quadrennial contest to find the best
craftsman (or craftswoman) in the country in an enormous range of disciplines:

[http://www.meilleursouvriersdefrance.info/concours_sujet.php](http://www.meilleursouvriersdefrance.info/concours_sujet.php)

Winners earn the right to decorate their tools with the colours of the
tricolore - even if, in the case of one blacksmith, that just meant wrapping
three bands of electrical tape round the shaft of a hammer. I was lucky enough
to come across an exhibition about some of that year's winners at the Musée
des Arts et Métiers when i was last in Paris. There were a load of winners'
masterworks on display, listing the materials used and the number of hours it
took to make them - often in the several hundreds.

~~~
matthewmcg
The other gig[1] economy...

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_pilot_gig](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_pilot_gig)

------
tzs
This reminds me of a couple of things.

1\. There was an article in Scientific American a little over 20 years ago by
pianist James Boyk on how piano technicians skilled enough to maintain pianos
for concert pianists were disappearing. There were very few apprenticeships or
training programs, and those that did exist were not turning out new
technicians anywhere fast enough to replace those who were retiring.

Here's a reprint on Boyk's site:
[http://www.its.caltech.edu/~boyk/essay.htm](http://www.its.caltech.edu/~boyk/essay.htm)

Anyone know if the situation has improved?

2\. I read a few years ago about a project by archaeologists and historians to
restore a medieval village somewhere in Europe (I think it was in France).
They were doing the restoration using the tools and techniques that would have
been used originally.

The cool part was that they had set things up so that members of the public
could help out. If you volunteered you would be provided a place to stay (if I
recall correctly), and you would be trained in an authentic medieval craft
they needed for the restoration and use those new skills to help. (I don't
remember if they also provided food). You'd also have enough free time to do
the normal tourist stuff that people did in that area. Basically, it was set
up to combine a vacation to France with a chance to help science.

Unfortunately, I did not save a link to this.

~~~
theoh
Is it this
one?[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guédelon_Castle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guédelon_Castle)

~~~
tzs
I'm not sure. Apparently there are a few of these kind of projects. That one
sounds closer to what I remember from the article than this other one I just
found:
[http://www.sabranenque.com/eng/index.html](http://www.sabranenque.com/eng/index.html)

------
coldnose
I'm glad globe-making is still being practiced. For my money, there's nothing
quite as cool as an artisanal globe!

~~~
joelrunyon
What's that guys' instagram handle? Couldn't find him - but I love maps +
globes.

~~~
dsnuh
I just wanted to piggyback on this to say that I find myself now using
Instagram _primarily_ to find new artists and artisans. You will find these
nests of people active in a craft, most of them willing to share methods, and
even willing to speak one on one in some cases.

I'll leave one of my favorite Instagram artisans to follow:
[https://www.instagram.com/romanbooteen/](https://www.instagram.com/romanbooteen/)

~~~
javiramos
There is a huge community of machinists in instagram. It's always amazing to
see people's results post on instragram.

------
endgame
> JoJo Wood, clog-maker

Nominative determinism at work.

------
germinalphrase
There are so many amateur "craft" goods manufactures these days.

Is there a good store or other resource to discover high end craft goods -
such as the hand made globes?

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epx
When I get a house I will craft fountain pens.

~~~
toomanybeersies
Have a look in your area to see if there are any maker spaces. That way you
can create, without having to spend a fortune on tools or space.

~~~
convolvatron
I'd really like to get into this also. As far as I can tell if you use pre-
made nib assemblies all you really need is a jewelers/watchmakers lathe. can
anyone clarify?

