Been teaching apprentices since 89. I'd bet that 75% of my 1st year apprentices could ID about 75% of those by the end of their first year and my 4th (final) year apprentices could ID 98% by the time they are ready to sit for their J-Card. The real problem we have is when an apprentice works for the same company and only sees one type of work. I have commercial guys who have never seen the inside of a generic single phase panel and I have residential guys who have never bent conduit. As much as we try to get the employers to comply with the requirement for "a well rounded work experience" ... lets face it, if a man is a top notch pipe bender the boss doesn't want to transfer him to some other type of work. To try and offset this we do a lot of materials recognition and use classes.
[This message has been edited by Steve Miller (edited 12-02-2004).]
