McKinley High School - President Yearbook (Buffalo, NY)

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THE ARTISAN 55 .Y .1g,.5-Ts V- l V ' use H Q., '- 'l -a '52 ',i i i - f'!'x ,if if ii' '. William Jones Carpentry VVe, the Senior Carpentry Class at McKinley, have been taught that Car- pentry, or carpenters' work, is divided into three principal heads, namely, descriptive, constructive, and mechanical. The first shows the lines or methods for forming every species of work by the rules of geometry, the second com- prises the practice of reducing the timber into particular forms, and joining the forms so produced so as to make a complete whole according to the intention or design, and the third displays the relative strength of the timbers and the strains to which they are subjected by their disposition. The carpenter works in wood which he receives from the lumber mill in beams, scantlings, and planks or boards. The carpenter must be very skillful in the manipulation of his tools for tl1ere is a Variety of branches in woodwork with which he is liable to come in contact, namely, house framing, outside and inside tri111, store fixtures, fit- tings, joinery work, airplane work, and boat building. These are some of the branches of woodwork that the carpenter must be prepa.red to take up and for whieh he qualified as long as he skillful in the use of his tools. The aim at McKinley has been to instill in us boys of the carpentry class a love for our work, skill in manipulating our tools, knowledge of the elementary principles of woodworking, and the fundamental principles of the trade as par- ticularly applied to framed house construction, The house in the accompanying picture was built by the senior carpentry class, involving various operations, a.nd a knowledge of the various processes and operations. Uommencing with the foundation, we-were taught how to lay out the foundation walls, methods of squaring the building, types of foundation walls and the use of concrete, stone, and brick. NVQ were then made familiar with tioor framing which consisted of making the sills and girders, framing, setting, bridging joists, and laying the sub floors. Next in order, were the partitions which called for the laying out of the sills and ribbonsg framing and raising the st.uds. These studs or partitions then had to be straightened, plumbed, and braced, involving many of the funda- mental operations of the trade. Floor openings had to be framed for the chimney hole, stair opening, etc., and openings were framed for windows and doors in the partitions. A knowledge of the laying out and estimating sizes of openings from given sizes of glass and doors was thus obtained. After the sub floors were laid and sheathing nailed on, we were taught roof framing.

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THE FIREPLACE

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55 THE ARTISAN This involved the laying out of the various types of roofs Cas illustration showsb, the framing of common, hip, valley and jack raftersg laying out ridge board and plate, and the method of raising the rafters into position. The roof framing is taught with the aid of the most wonderful of all the carpenter tools, namely, the steel square. This is one of the oldest tools known to man, and, in its present form, there is hardly a carpentry problem that cannot be solved with it. A great deal of mathematics is involved in the roof framing problems. The foregoing operations would come under the main headings of: 1. Outside rough work. tai Laying out tlij Framing. tcj Erecting. Vile then came to what is called the outside finish which included making and putting on the cornice, roof boards, and shingles. The water table and corner boards were put on, the window frames and outside door frames were set in place, the siding was then put on, and the porch work commenced. This involved framing the porch, laying the floor, making beam, framing and erecting porch steps, and putting on the ceiling. This completed the outside rough and outside finish. The inside of the building then had to be made ready for the plasterer and this meant doing all the inside rough workg framing and setting the carry- ing partitions tand all other partitionsi, methods of trussing same, rough work on stairs, all furring such as ceilings and walls. Grounds were applied to all openings for base, wainseoting, cupboards, also fitting and hanging doors and windows, laying flooring and putting on the hardware. This completed the actual building of the house shown in the picture, of which we are justly proud. ln addition to building the house, we completed the following jobs for the school, from which we gained a. vast amount of knowledge and experience, and inci- dentally a great saving to the city. NVe made and erected display board for exhibition charts, etc. Changed and remodelled doors for various rooms. V Made mortar inixine' box centers for arches iencil iointers, and window ' v . FJ. . 7 A I 7 screens, installed University chairs and shelving. Made door and window frames, scaffold and paperhanging boards. Made and erected lumber racks, bulletin boards, made saw benches, bins for wall paper, rack for storing copper, frame work for bath room, large wooden. tanks for washing blue prints, large key board for hanging up all school locker keys, skylight frames, large heavy rack for holding iron stakes, large sign board for Seneca New Vocational School, repaired drawing cabinets, and also did a great deal of general repair work such as fixing locks, door checks, and taking otlf and replacing trim on doors. - Thus it will be seen from this brief description what the carpentry class at McKinley has accomplished and that only the real wide awake boy can be accommodated. The work is healthy and interesting and our instructor informs us that there are unlimited opportunities of advancement for the skilled mechanic because the building field is so large, and the persons capable of handling executive positions so few, at the present time there are opportunities everywhere for those qualified to grasp them. The carpenters' wages compare very favorably with wages of other industries, at the present time in Buffalo being 56451.50 per week of 44 hours.