Getting Certified,

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Uncle Eli

Uncle Eli

MGF, Master Grumble Framer
Joined
Apr 2, 2005
Posts
554
Loc
Sunny Malibu CA.
I'm at the point in my framing career that I feel like I should get Certified. I was wondering how one went about studying for the test, and where to take said test. I'd also like to know approx cost and such. Thanks for your help.
 
The CPF exam is administered by the PPFA. Some chapters hold the exam during a chapter meeting. There is an exam scheduled at the conference. There is a schedule on hte PPFA web site I believe. I believe you must be a member, but I'm not possitive about that. As I recall, the cost is about $240.

If you go to the PPFA web site, www.ppfa.com they have a study guide and a list of reading material as well as a sample test.

make sure you study the material. I ahve heard a few framers with a lot of experience say they failed the test the first time, because they thought their experience would be enough.

Good Luck! ask if you have a more specific question!
 
Did you, Eli, really feel unfit for this or loose business because you were not being a CPF as yet?
I am not a CPPF-manufacturer and never felt discriminated against or in need to back my product and service with a diploma in order to make/save a sale.
If anything, my clients were concerned with how long was I being around in the market rather than where had I learned my stuff and whether or not I took all my credentials. But then some costumers may never have a ride without checking that taxi driver's licence first. ;)
 
Hi Uncle Eli,

The NJ/Delaware Valley PPFA will be having a CPF exam sometime this summer most likely in the Phila area.

Compared to any exam that I took at PSU, this wasn't too tough!

Susan G
PSU Class of '84
For those who have never visited PSU "Uncle Eli's" is art student heaven!
 
Uncle Eli,

I could be coerced to hold the exam during "Arts Festival" week if you put up all of those who need to take the exam and the person giving the exam. Gee this way, maybe we could get a volunteer to give the exam.

Susan
 
Just one bit of advice: Study everything recommended in the Study Guide until you know it well.

Decades of shop experience usually do not enable one to pass the exam, so veteran framers who do not study enough usually fail. Very few framers learn enough about preservation framing through trial-and-error shop experience to pass the exam.
 
Granted obatining your CPF isn't going to make or break your career or send folks to your shop in droves... it's a great personal experience. The library of books used for studying are so interesting and make great reference guides. Even if you never challange yourself by taking the exam, the library is a must have. If you love framing, you'll love reading the books... and you WILL learn many things you did not already know. Not only will you read things you already know, you'll actually learn WHY you've been doing them that way, and not just because "that's the way you were taught". Besides, there is more than one way to do many things, and just learning different variations of certain techniques opens many doors to different ideas.

Don't listen to CPF bashers... it's about the knowledge you obtain reading the books and not so much about the title.

-Erin "Proud to be a CPF"
 
Kittyfaces said:
Don't listen to CPF bashers... it's about the knowledge you obtain reading the books and not so much about the title.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. It's about gaining the knowledge and attaining a personal goal. If the occasional customer is impressed or gets a little education when she asks about the letters behind your name, even better.

The people who bash "book knowledge" and brag about their education in "the school of hard knocks" seem to do so simply to make themselves feel better. Whatever helps you sleep at night...
 


"Book Learning" without experience is unapplied
and untempered knowledge.


"The School of Hard Knocks" by itself
rarely reaches its full potential.


Combining both brings to life a pragmatic intelligence
...a deepened knowledge fostering a disciplined &
fully enlightened wisdom .




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We may live without poetry, music & art;
We may live without conscience and live without heart;
We may live without friends, we may live without books;
But civilized men cannot live without cooks.


We may live without books - what is knowledge but grieving?
We may live without hope - what is hope but deceiving?
We may live without love - what is passion but pining?
But where is the man that can live without dining?


- Owen Meredith, Lucile (1860)


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:beer:


 
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