Here's some background about adding the grading workshop at the Western Conference:
The Log Homes Council of the NAHB funded the research that developed the grading standards (for logs, but also applicable to timber). This particular certification is through them, so they require membership to use it. I guess they have right to try to recoup their investment. This was brought to us by Robert Savignac as a potential workshop since he was presenting at the Conference anyway, and we thought we'd give it a try, and perhaps attract some log builders to our event.
We have had grading workshops at a number of Guild events and will have one at the Camp Letts rendezvous and I'm offering one at Heartwood in June. But these are 1/2 - 1 day, and do not give certification; that requires a much longer course from NELMA. We will probably offer one of those as well soon, although NELMA already offers those that you could go to.
The grader certification is, in my opinion, appropriate for bigger companies that mill their own timber and regularly use engineered drawings that specify grade. In my experience in western Massachusetts, I have rarely, if ever, required engineer's or grade stamps. I'm lucky. If I did need either, it might be cheaper to just pay for a grader (like Jim did) or buy graded timbers than to get certified.
Anyway, I shudder to think of what some local sawyers have provided over the years, and any timber framer should know the rules and methods for grading. It's not that hard, but there are subtleties and interpretations that make a workshop better than just trying to learn it from a book. Each grading agency, including NELMA, has the grading book you can buy on their website.
So back to the Coeur d'Alene workshop: you don't need to be from a company to take the workshop. But you need to be if you want to use the certification legally. If all you want is the knowledge and damn the stamp, then take the workshop.
Last edited by Will B; 03/20/08 04:55 PM.
