OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

58071 Howard Slack <hnslack@i...> 1999‑02‑20 Bio: Howard Slack
I have been on the list for a while now, after attending the old tools
meet at Ron Harper's place in Indiana a while ago, and also since I work
with one Steve Jones, another galoot.

'Vital' data points:
Howard Slack       hnslack@i...
RR5 Box 241KK
Peru  IN 46970

Occupation: Computer systems analyst (not real title, but close enough)

Family: Wife Susie and 11 (soon 12) children - Hannah, Reuben, Rebekah,
Chavah, Mark, Shoshannah, Joel, Joanna, Jordan, Leah, Keila. (one wife,
no twins, no adoptions) Ages of children are from 22 down to 3. My
lovely wife is obviously quite busy with homemaking, and all the more
with homeschooling. The kids take a lot of the responsibilities for
laundry, cooking, etc.

Interests: Family, church, learning Hebrew (although in spurts), music,
woodworking, 4H leadership.

We are quite a musical family, with violins in the 1/10, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2,
3/4, and full sizes, along with 2 violas and a cello. Also piano,
trumpet, flute, guitars, ukulele, and a couple banjos (I am the banjo
player - everyone else would like to play but they're just too
embarassed to admit it). Our musical taste is also pretty diverse,
including baroque, classical, Christian, Jewish klezmer, bluegrass,
cowboy western, Irish/Scottish and Cajun fiddling, bagpipes and
accordian, Scott Joplin rags and Sousa marches, ... In fact, we like
most anything musical (which obviously excludes rock, disco, and
especially rap). My opinion on instruments is somewhat galootish - I
figure there is nothing wrong with an electric guitar that a good old
blackout wouldn't cure. (Chet Atkins and Merle Travis are exempted from
the above condemnation).

Woodworking interests:
I collect wood (and am a member of the IWCS - International Wood
Collectors' Society), and enjoy turning wooden eggs on the lathe. Eggs
are a good way to display the various kinds of wood and their grains. I
also try to do some light furniture, boxes, shelves, etc. Through
reading various books and starting to collect certain tools, I am
starting to get worked up to the idea of making a violin. I also am
interested in making fine handtools for my own use.

3-4 of the children have been in the 4-H woodworking project and have
done quite well, using handtools for the most part.

Several of the children and I are also in a local woodcarving club.

I *don't* collect tools, but I sure seem to have a lot of them. My wife
might start thinking I do collect them, but I'm pretty sure that's just
a simple misunderstanding.

So far I have enjoyed the group and gotten some good answers to
questions, although it is a somewhat daunting task to stay on top of the
flood of email messages.



Recent Bios FAQ