Art On Canvas
CGF II, Certified Grumble Framer Level 2
What is the morning line on passing/flunking the CPF exam WITHOUT reading the suggested books? 
CPF TEST VEGAS ODDS of PASSING
- Thread starter Art On Canvas
- Start date
Curly's Mom
MGF, Master Grumble Framer
Don, I was in the first testing held in San Fran. in '84. For me, it was easy. Didn't study and finished with 45 minutes or so to spare. I'd been in the biz for almost 10 years then and had a voracious thirst for knowledge about framing, especially "Museum Quality Framing". I imagine that "most" folks that have 10 years of experience AND that are good test takers, would pass.
DGBuck
True Grumbler
I couldn't tell you odds without doing the reading, but when I took it(1999)I did most of the reading, had 13 years of experience, and thought it was a fairly challenging test.
As far as odds of passing, in my session there were 15-18(guessing)framers taking the test, 10 turned in completed tests, and 6 passed. Not very good odds!
As far as odds of passing, in my session there were 15-18(guessing)framers taking the test, 10 turned in completed tests, and 6 passed. Not very good odds!
Don't try it. The CPF exam has a failure rate of about 40%. That is, about 4 out of 10 who take it fail on their first try. Personally, I suspect that is because those 4 didn't study the books. Years of framing experience don't seem to matter, espcially if the framer has had little formal framing education. Framers who work hard to prepare for the exam most often pass it - and they learn a lot in the process, which is the point of it all.
The CPF exam is the highest qualification available for picture framers. It is intended to be a difficult test, which concentrates on everything related to framing, especially the current body of knowledge about preservation.
The CPF exam has been rewritten several times since Curly took it in '84, and it has gotten more sophisticated over the years. The entire pool of questions was completely reviewed and revised as recently as 2000, and the Study Guide's reading list has also been revised.
Jim Miller, CPF
Member, PPFA Certification Board
The CPF exam is the highest qualification available for picture framers. It is intended to be a difficult test, which concentrates on everything related to framing, especially the current body of knowledge about preservation.
The CPF exam has been rewritten several times since Curly took it in '84, and it has gotten more sophisticated over the years. The entire pool of questions was completely reviewed and revised as recently as 2000, and the Study Guide's reading list has also been revised.
Jim Miller, CPF
Member, PPFA Certification Board
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Curly,
It was actually 1986 in San Francisco.....I was there also. Jo Burns recently gave me a copy of an old PPFA newsletter that lists the very first successful candidates. (I'll fax you a copy of this if you're interested!)
Don,
Go with Jim's advice......At least read through the top five reference books. Typically, real experience, PPFA courses, and reading the material is a good combination for success in passing the test.
John
It was actually 1986 in San Francisco.....I was there also. Jo Burns recently gave me a copy of an old PPFA newsletter that lists the very first successful candidates. (I'll fax you a copy of this if you're interested!)
Don,
Go with Jim's advice......At least read through the top five reference books. Typically, real experience, PPFA courses, and reading the material is a good combination for success in passing the test.
John
Curly's Mom
MGF, Master Grumble Framer
I didn't take the test till 88 in N'Amlins but We were there in Frisco. That is where Marie and i first meet John and Brian on the Bay excursion trip. Heard any good jokes lately John?LOL
About the test 'I think if you do your Home work(Study up ) and you have been frameing for a while you should do alright.It was even a little easier in 88 ,that's why PPFa offers the CPF Revisted sessions( To catch up on all the changesover the years)It is also a great way to catch up on things you don't see all the time.
If you start studing now ,why wait till Vegas I think you could take all the CPF sessions( Study guide, Revisited,and THE EXAM)all in Atlanta.Just get in touch with the PPFA to schedule the ones you want. Tha's why I asked what the PPFA was offering before we knew the Show classes (Wouldn't want to miss out) .
Just think if you take it in atlanta and the worst happens maybe you could retake it in Vegas.LOL But really you could join the study groups in atlanta and ace it in Vegas.
BUDDY
About the test 'I think if you do your Home work(Study up ) and you have been frameing for a while you should do alright.It was even a little easier in 88 ,that's why PPFa offers the CPF Revisted sessions( To catch up on all the changesover the years)It is also a great way to catch up on things you don't see all the time.
If you start studing now ,why wait till Vegas I think you could take all the CPF sessions( Study guide, Revisited,and THE EXAM)all in Atlanta.Just get in touch with the PPFA to schedule the ones you want. Tha's why I asked what the PPFA was offering before we knew the Show classes (Wouldn't want to miss out) .
Just think if you take it in atlanta and the worst happens maybe you could retake it in Vegas.LOL But really you could join the study groups in atlanta and ace it in Vegas.
BUDDY
Art On Canvas
CGF II, Certified Grumble Framer Level 2
I passed it. It took two months of suspense before I was notified yesterday with a certificate and a CPF pin.
Congratulations, Don.
You started this thread asking about the odds of passing without reading the books.
So, did you read the books?
You started this thread asking about the odds of passing without reading the books.
So, did you read the books?
Art On Canvas
CGF II, Certified Grumble Framer Level 2
Hi Jim--
Following the avucular advice posted by my betters, I purchased and read Chris Paschke's
Mounting and Laminating Handbook (I was sent the 1997 edition, but another updated version
is available), Color Harmony by Bride Whelan (I ordered that one because the author had an
Irish name), and "Matting and Hinging Works of Art on Paper". I've had Paul Frederick's
"Framer's Book...Techniques" and reread that helpful tome as well. They all helped a lot. The
exam was more difficult than I expected, so if I had to bet, I'd have bet that I flunked the thing.
I'm thankful that I was able to squeek by that one.
Following the avucular advice posted by my betters, I purchased and read Chris Paschke's
Mounting and Laminating Handbook (I was sent the 1997 edition, but another updated version
is available), Color Harmony by Bride Whelan (I ordered that one because the author had an
Irish name), and "Matting and Hinging Works of Art on Paper". I've had Paul Frederick's
"Framer's Book...Techniques" and reread that helpful tome as well. They all helped a lot. The
exam was more difficult than I expected, so if I had to bet, I'd have bet that I flunked the thing.
I'm thankful that I was able to squeek by that one.
Don't do it! ! !
Don't take the test without doing the reading. I did and it seemed like the longest 2 months of my life waiting for the results. When the envelope finally arrived and I saw the letters CPF after my name in the address I let out a yell loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear. Not only did I frame the certificate (hand wrapped linen mat; deep bevel marbelized paper ; frame in a frame - that might be a good thread - how did you a framer, frame your cetificate?), I framed the envelope too!!! The two frames hang above my desk.
The test is hard and thorough and had I not had 18 years of experience and been doing alot of research to prepare to teach a course in framing, I never would have passed. FWIW - there were 5 of us in the room and only 3 of us passed and I know the rest had done the reading. So even doing the reading is no guarantee.
Congratulations Don.
Pam MacFadden
Macfadden Art & Framing
Balmy Miami
Don't take the test without doing the reading. I did and it seemed like the longest 2 months of my life waiting for the results. When the envelope finally arrived and I saw the letters CPF after my name in the address I let out a yell loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear. Not only did I frame the certificate (hand wrapped linen mat; deep bevel marbelized paper ; frame in a frame - that might be a good thread - how did you a framer, frame your cetificate?), I framed the envelope too!!! The two frames hang above my desk.
The test is hard and thorough and had I not had 18 years of experience and been doing alot of research to prepare to teach a course in framing, I never would have passed. FWIW - there were 5 of us in the room and only 3 of us passed and I know the rest had done the reading. So even doing the reading is no guarantee.
Congratulations Don.
Pam MacFadden
Macfadden Art & Framing
Balmy Miami
fttom
MGF, Master Grumble Framer
You Folks are scaring me. I'd planned to tackle the thing next year when it comes back to Atlanta, but, with my aging memory, now I don't know...
Susan don't be frightened. The whole idea behind reading up now and takeing the test ,is to be able to apply what you have read. So if you start now ,you can begin applying what you don't already use and there by commit it to memory. When I was in school ( ages ago) we use to use practile application to help our memory. But this is even better this reading and practice is what will give you the ability to apply what you read. That is what it really is all about.IMHO
Charles BUDDY Drago CPF ® 1988
Charles BUDDY Drago CPF ® 1988
fttom
MGF, Master Grumble Framer
Buddy, thanks for the encouragement. I've been framing for longer than I really want to admit to. Also, I'm always reading something about framing. That's the only way that I can stay on top of new technology. I used to be pretty good at taking tests, especially multiple choice. I'm just afraid that, now, I'll go in to take the thing, and draw a total blank. You know, like my brain went out for lunch, and didn't take me with it? I've been doing the reading and studying for years, and practice what I read all of the time. I'm, in fact, the local framing answer person. Framers around here who don't know how to do something or don't know what something is, they call me. I'm just hoping that my memory doesn't choose that instant to do a memory dump. This is the first time we've been anywhere long enough for me to plan to taking the thing. Here's hoping we'll still be here next Sept! 
Susan
You sound like the perfect candidate for passing the test and if you aren't - you should be!
I didn't mean to scare anyone from taking the test. I feel it is the one of the few - if not the only - current measure of competence within our industry and someone like you (and like me , I felt, until I walked in that room Sunday morning in Orlando in January '99 - after a long Saturday night that involved bagpipes and single malt) should be able to pass it - especially if you do the reading. What I surmise is that there were questions on the test that folk who had done the required reading had
seen before and were able to quickly mark the correct answer.
There was no time constraint but just being able to soar through sets of words you've already seen is a big help. Since I wasn't absolutely sure I'd be taking the test I didn't even have a calculator with me which as I recall would have been a big help. But check with the PPFA on that.
Take it Susan. You'll do well!
Pam MacFadden
You sound like the perfect candidate for passing the test and if you aren't - you should be!
I didn't mean to scare anyone from taking the test. I feel it is the one of the few - if not the only - current measure of competence within our industry and someone like you (and like me , I felt, until I walked in that room Sunday morning in Orlando in January '99 - after a long Saturday night that involved bagpipes and single malt) should be able to pass it - especially if you do the reading. What I surmise is that there were questions on the test that folk who had done the required reading had
seen before and were able to quickly mark the correct answer.
There was no time constraint but just being able to soar through sets of words you've already seen is a big help. Since I wasn't absolutely sure I'd be taking the test I didn't even have a calculator with me which as I recall would have been a big help. But check with the PPFA on that.
Take it Susan. You'll do well!
Pam MacFadden
Susan when you wrote ;
I've been doing the reading and studying for years, and practice what I read all of the time. I'm, in fact, the local framing answer person. Framers around here who don't know how to do something or don't know what something is, they call me.
Just think of the test this way;you've been studying for this all your professional life and this is nothing new to you. In fact ,instaed of local framers ,the ones asking the questions are guys like Jim Miller and Merrill Grayson and they already know you so there is no difference this should be just like another day in the shop with a different audience. You'll do fine just like you always have because you "'ve been doing the reading and studying for years, and practice what I read all of the time". You said it,so you know it's true !
BUDDY
I've been doing the reading and studying for years, and practice what I read all of the time. I'm, in fact, the local framing answer person. Framers around here who don't know how to do something or don't know what something is, they call me.
Just think of the test this way;you've been studying for this all your professional life and this is nothing new to you. In fact ,instaed of local framers ,the ones asking the questions are guys like Jim Miller and Merrill Grayson and they already know you so there is no difference this should be just like another day in the shop with a different audience. You'll do fine just like you always have because you "'ve been doing the reading and studying for years, and practice what I read all of the time". You said it,so you know it's true !
BUDDY
fttom
MGF, Master Grumble Framer
Thanks, Buddy! I needed that today. 
One of our chapter members took the class on preparing for the CPF test at one of the trade shows. She took the test and passed, she said it helped a lot and she's been framing for over 20 years.
I think if you are a long time framer, you are simply ahead of the game because of your framing vocabulary and. No matter how long you have been framing, you just don't use all your framing knowledge everyday. You need to refresh your memory because you will need it for the CPF. You don't want to pay that fee and go in there unprepared.
I think if you are a long time framer, you are simply ahead of the game because of your framing vocabulary and. No matter how long you have been framing, you just don't use all your framing knowledge everyday. You need to refresh your memory because you will need it for the CPF. You don't want to pay that fee and go in there unprepared.
One of the reasons the CPF exam has such a high first-time failure rate is that some veteran framers assume they can pass it on the strength of their experience, without careful study.
Maybe, but it's not likely. Framers who learn what's recommended in the Study Guide will probably pass, but those who don't study -- regardless of their experience -- won't do as well.
The whole point of the CPF program is to encourage framers to improve their knowledge & skills; certification just confirms their learning.
The Study Guide's recommended books contain information far beyond what's in the exam. So, even if one could pass the exam without studying, he/she would be missing valuable education.
And the books make a great reference library. I've updated mine since 1990, and still refer to those books regularly.
Why take the chance of wasting your time and money, and being disappointed with falling short on the exam? Do it right. Study, and take the exam with confidence.
Maybe, but it's not likely. Framers who learn what's recommended in the Study Guide will probably pass, but those who don't study -- regardless of their experience -- won't do as well.
The whole point of the CPF program is to encourage framers to improve their knowledge & skills; certification just confirms their learning.
The Study Guide's recommended books contain information far beyond what's in the exam. So, even if one could pass the exam without studying, he/she would be missing valuable education.
And the books make a great reference library. I've updated mine since 1990, and still refer to those books regularly.
Why take the chance of wasting your time and money, and being disappointed with falling short on the exam? Do it right. Study, and take the exam with confidence.
The CPF exam is a prime example of a journey with more value than the destination. The reading and preparation will help you and your business more than the certification and initials will.
One of the highlights of the Atlanta Decor Expo was my mad dash through the Decor bookstore at show-closing to update my library. Of course, I could have ordered the books on-line, by mail or over the phone but then I wouldn't have had the pleasure of watching Framerguy haul my books all over Atlanta while he and Mark tried to remember where they parked my van.
What a pal!
To address the original question (from last August): How many of us could pass the written portion of a driving test after years of driving experience without reviewing the manual?
(What is the average stopping distance for a fully-loaded cement truck travelling 45 mph down a 15% grade on black ice?)
One of the highlights of the Atlanta Decor Expo was my mad dash through the Decor bookstore at show-closing to update my library. Of course, I could have ordered the books on-line, by mail or over the phone but then I wouldn't have had the pleasure of watching Framerguy haul my books all over Atlanta while he and Mark tried to remember where they parked my van.
What a pal!
To address the original question (from last August): How many of us could pass the written portion of a driving test after years of driving experience without reviewing the manual?
(What is the average stopping distance for a fully-loaded cement truck travelling 45 mph down a 15% grade on black ice?)
Ron posted:
What is the average stopping distance for a fully-loaded cement truck travelling 45 mph down a 15% grade on black ice?)
Is this for real? Down here we don't take the same test for normal vehicles and those who need chauffers liscences. But most of all most of us have never seen ICE of any kind on the road( Maybe in my JD) but we wouldn't have any idea what BLACK ice was and how it is different from just plain ice.ROTFWLOL I guess we should study the text that we have the least experience with MOST as well as the stuff we do every day,then we'd be sure to cover all the bases.
BUDDY
What is the average stopping distance for a fully-loaded cement truck travelling 45 mph down a 15% grade on black ice?)
Is this for real? Down here we don't take the same test for normal vehicles and those who need chauffers liscences. But most of all most of us have never seen ICE of any kind on the road( Maybe in my JD) but we wouldn't have any idea what BLACK ice was and how it is different from just plain ice.ROTFWLOL I guess we should study the text that we have the least experience with MOST as well as the stuff we do every day,then we'd be sure to cover all the bases.
BUDDY
Honestly, Buddy, I made that question up but it's not much of an exaggeration.
And I'm not sure what the difference is between black ice and regular ice, except that it's unexpected and deadly.
My point is: The CPF exam and the DMV written test are both somewhat like the organic chemistry final I took as a college sophomore (and flunked, BTW.) No matter how good your are in the lab (where I got an 'A') there are parts of the test you just have to memorize by reading.
Now you know why I'm not a chemical engineer, thank God.
And I'm not sure what the difference is between black ice and regular ice, except that it's unexpected and deadly.
My point is: The CPF exam and the DMV written test are both somewhat like the organic chemistry final I took as a college sophomore (and flunked, BTW.) No matter how good your are in the lab (where I got an 'A') there are parts of the test you just have to memorize by reading.
Now you know why I'm not a chemical engineer, thank God.
Thanks for clearing the drivers test up. But the part about memorizeing some things needs some clarification also.IMHO we may need to memorize some things ,but only because we haven't as yet met the actual application of the fact. Those that we deal with regularly are reenforced by the practile application and to some extent made clearer. however we all don't use ever thing taught in the TEXT BOOKS every day . However you can bet if after the examiners have considered all they think is relavent "SOMEDAY" you are going to enconter it so until then Memory and/or a well stocked library ( Along with the TFGand HH) is all we have to keep us informed. Of course after you pass the CPF there are the Refresher courses that fill in the gaps.
All in all the real reason for the exam and all it's perefials is to keep Framers informed and uptodate in their everyday business.
I guess just like driveing every day does for the other test,coupled with memory for those road conditions rhat we don't see everyday(Black Ice??).
BUDDY
All in all the real reason for the exam and all it's perefials is to keep Framers informed and uptodate in their everyday business.
I guess just like driveing every day does for the other test,coupled with memory for those road conditions rhat we don't see everyday(Black Ice??).
BUDDY
Emibub
PFG, Picture Framing God
Buddy, We get "black ice" here in Colorado very often, and it is deadly. It is a very thin layer of ice that forms when it gets cold very quickly. You can't see it so you don't know it is there. That is why they call it "black ice".
Just last year I was driving on the highway going sixty mph. All of a sudden up ahead of me a car just started doing a three sixty. Other cars started braking and sliding. I had room to slow down without braking. Scariest thing I have ever been in. There was not one scintilla of any sign of it being icy up to that point. Needless to say, I drove very slowly the rest of the way home.
Just last year I was driving on the highway going sixty mph. All of a sudden up ahead of me a car just started doing a three sixty. Other cars started braking and sliding. I had room to slow down without braking. Scariest thing I have ever been in. There was not one scintilla of any sign of it being icy up to that point. Needless to say, I drove very slowly the rest of the way home.
fttom
MGF, Master Grumble Framer
Kathy's right about the black ice. We get it occasionally here in the Atlanta area, and saw it all of the time overseas. It forms crystal clear on blacktop roadways, hence the name black ice. It is dangerous and extremely deadly. You are on it before you know it, and have absolutely no control over anything. Here, it happens so rarely, that folks have no idea how to deal with it, so nearly every time it forms, there is at least 1 death.