While I am self employed, and earn a fair living, I would jump at the chance to apprentice with a TF company if I could bring down at least 35k (to pay the mortgage, bills, etc and somehow manage to see my family a few times a month during the duration of the apprenticeship).
Andrew,
Thanks for the post. There's a lot for me to ponder from my perspective as a member of the Guild's Board of Directors as well as a member of the Apprenticeship Committee (and a registerd Journeyman and timber frame business owner).
Did you know the TFG has a Department of Labor registered Timber Framing Apprenticeship Program? It's a three year program where the apprentice works full time under the direction/supervision of a Guild Journeyworker. Each of the three years, the apprentice also takes 144 hours of "related training" where some of the skills and knowledge that are difficult to pass on in a work setting are taught.
Apprentices are required to be paid at 1/2 the JW pay for the first year, then it goes up from there.
There's tons more info on the guild homepage (
www.tfguild.org) toward the bottom of the page. Be sure to check out the curriculum to see the impressive breadth and scope of what is taught in just three years. I've also attached the Guild's brochure about the program to this post in case anyone is curious.
Gabel
