OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

24684 Marv Smoak <smoak@m...> 1997‑08‑23 BIO: Hi, I'm Marv.
Hi, I'm Marv Smoak (pronounced as "smoke").

Short version:   Wandered up to the porch last November, looking for info on use
r   hand tools.   Learned a lot; really enjoy the folks.   I've gotten saws, pla
nes, chisels, etc.   and am learning to sharpen and use them.   Bought and salva
ged some nice wood.   I'm 58, retired early from IBM, did well consulting till a
 few years ago when I took on full time care of Kate, my mom, age 100.   Sher Hu
man, my SWMBA (Adored and/or Accommodated, Assured, ...), is a professor at Xavi
er Univ.   in Cincinnati now, formerly TCU in Ft. Worth.   Our home is in Lexing
ton, KY, we have a apartment near Sher's school, and mom's house is in South Car
olina   so I travel quite a bit;   that was my original motivation for getting a
 good set of hand tools.   My other favorite user "old tools": for music, a Selm
er alto sax and for programming, APL, Iverson's wonderful "tool for thought".   

Long version: 
I'd like to join in the talk since I've been hanging around the porch so long. A
nd I hear that before you start talking you should say who you are.   Well, ...

I'm a 58 year old kid from North, a small town in South Carolina. My dad and mom
 owned the Chevrolet dealership in North.   He was a infantry corpsman in France
 during World War 1, sold horses, mules, wagons and buggys after the war then   
moved on to selling cars.   She graduated from college in 1918 and taught fifth 
grade until they married and bought the Chevy dealership.   I grew up during the
 1940's when kids built lots of their toys;   my dad and his dad taught me a lit
tle about woodworking and the mechanics in his business taught me a lot about au
to repair and tools.   Back then you got your drivers license at 14; I could   m
ove cars around the used car lot at age 12.   And SC had student school bus driv
ers then, so at 16 I took the course and drove a bus my last two years of   high
 school.   From there, it was on to Ga. Tech to become an ME.   After two quarte
rs, I decided I didn't want to be an ME and didn't know what I should study, so 
I dropped out, got married, went into the service for a couple of   years, learn
ed electronics, returned to Atlanta and got a job with IBM, had two daughters, f
inished Ga. Tech (BS Physics; worked at the research center   running infrared s
pectra and programming in Algol) on leave from IBM.   Moved to Lexington, KY to 
do instrumentation work for IBM.   Needed to learn statistics for work, got MS S
tatistics, UK, and began consulting/teaching Statistics and   Design of Experime
nts inside IBM.   Worked on lots of IBM development projects using computers as 
tools for analysis and simulation.   Taught on the Navajo   Reservation under IB
M's Faculty Loan program, 1974/75.   Retired early when IBM sold the Lexington s
ite in 1990 and started Smoak and Associates, a consultancy.

During my years at Ga. Tech and IBM, I didn't have much spare time. I did manage
 to get interested in Antiques and was a partner in a small shop in Atlanta for 
a couple of years.   Tools always interested me and I bought and sold lots of   
wooden planes, braces, etc. but never used them.   At one point I bought a Sears
 radial arm saw; never liked it much, but managed to use it for 2x4 and plywood 
projects and for adding a room in the basement.   After my first wife and I spli
t I sold the saw and most of my other tools.   When something was needed, I hire
d   someone else to do it;   I helped design and sometimes helped build. Always 
loved the wood and had pipe-dreams of buying a ShopSmith one day, maybe.   I foc
used on work, my kids, seven card stud, horse races, and friends.

About 20 years ago, I went downtown one night to hear my favorite local jazz   g
roup, the Hatfield Clan, and spotted Sher when she came in; thought "real sharp 
but way too young for me".   We clicked and married three years later.   She is 
  not SWMBO; rather "she who must be adored".   We bought a house near UK that w
as built in 1926 with oak floors and lots of windows.   I almost went back to UK
 for a PhD in Stats, but decided to get back to alto sax instead;   bought a Sel
mer, studied jazz, and joined a practice group that met weekly.   Never regrette
d the decision.   Sher decided she wanted to teach at the university level so sh
e went back and got her PhD a few years ago.   So now we also have an apartment 
near where she teaches.

Last November I built a large but simple plant stand to go against a long sunny 
white wall in the apartment we had in Fort Worth.   I used 1x2 slats for two   s
latted shelves, 6ft long and about 20in deep, with 2x2 legs;   we wanted it   li
ght and airy and easy to move.   I had to borrow hand tools and get the   plywoo
d combs for supporting the shelves cut at a cabinet shop.   It's put   together 
with bolts and nuts.   Not fancy but functional and looks nice enough.   Other t
han household carpentry, this was the first thing I built myself in over   twent
y five years.   I really enjoyed doing it, liked the way it worked out and wante
d to do more.   I have plenty of spare time 'cause my current main gig is   cari
ng for my mom, Kate, age 100 this April.   But I needed woodworking tools.

Even in Lexington, I didn't have a good set tools, so I set out to put together 
  a set of hand tools, shopping at Home Depot type places and pawn shops in Fort
   Worth.   After buying and returning 2 hand saws that didn't, I looked on the 
  internet for information on saws, found the oldtools front porch and have been
   lurking (and meeting a few of you by email and phone) ever since.   I've lear
ned   a lot from your conversations, my tool collec...(er) set has grown nicely,
 thanks   to your advice.

I returned to Lexington in March with a couple of Disston saws that would   actu
ally saw, a few Stanley planes (I'd never used one before) and an odd   assortme
nt of pawn shop chisels, etc.   Since then I've added more good tools,   set up 
a Scary Sharp (tm) bench, bought and salvaged some wood (Japanese crates   are g
reat), and begun clearing more shop space in the basement.   

Things I want to build soon: A traveling woodworking kit and "portable bench"; a
 small "Shaker type" table;   something useful for my granddaughter.

Thanks to those of you who started Oldtools, and all who contribute now.   It's 
a great group.   I think I'll sit down now....you can see I get wordy some.. tel
l me (gently) if I talk too much or step on your toe...

Marv



Recent Bios FAQ