I'm sure we have all heard the term "Master Craftsman" used at some time or other but do these people actually still exist in todays world?
For example for 40 years I have worked and earn a living as a Carpenter/joiner and in that time I have come across hundreds if not thousands of tradesmen (Carpenters/joiners). Not one of the tradesmen that I have worked with has ever called themselves a Master Craftsman.
I believe many years ago apprentices had a long period training and if successful could become a Journeyman and once established as a Journeyman he could seek to become a Master Craftsman by submitting a piece of work to a "Guild" for inspection and if approval was granted to the work, the Journeyman then paid a fee to the Guild and became known as a Master Craftsman. This seems to be an old custom and to my knowledge not practiced any more, so does anyone know if there are any true Master Craftsmen that have the right credentials or is the term really just a notion from the past?
Mark