Joseph Kopachko tinkers with variety of projects
Tinkerers who create homemade gadgets fill some basic individual need and, ultimately, hope to end up with a valued item. They feel it’s fun and rewarding to make a self-designed thingamabob, and more than satisfying to think up and build those simple devices.
That’s what lifelong Smock resident Joseph Kopachko believes, especially because he’s been tinkering for the past decade on various gadgets, models, doohickeys and trophies.
Some of his most recent creations honor the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Super Bowl victory this year, even though he is an admitted “bandwagon fan.”
“I don’t usually watch football,” said Kopachko, 84. “But these games were exceptionally good.”
And they inspired the tinkerer in him.
The morning after the win in Super Bowl XL in early February, he went out and bought as many newspapers as he could find. He didn’t want them for keepsakes, though, at least in their original form. Kopachko wanted the photos, graphs, logos and whatever else he could cut out for building what he explains are “trophies.”
These trophies, constructed mostly out of scrap wood and cast-off decorative gold-tone pieces from a local cabinetmaker, are simply made. But they are meticulously crafted with love and pride. Above a field of green fabric, complete with white chalk yard lines, goalposts and palm-sized footballs, they’re decorated with photos of Ben Roethlisberger, Jerome Bettis, Hines Ward and the rest.
Right now, three decorate Kopachko’s living room. About 10 hours of his time was invested in each. As far as gadgets go, they don’t do anything, except pay tribute to Kopachko’s inspiration and, of course, to the win.
“Fifty years from now, these will be worth something,” he said.
Ideas for the things he makes come from many places. Often the plan comes from a need, such as the football stand he made for his daughter, son-in-law and grandson, who own one of the Super Bowl XL autographed footballs.
“It was just lying on their dresser,” Kopachko said. The engineering behind this trophy: a 3-pound butter bowl centered below another field of green that neatly cradles the football in an upright position.
Another idea came to him when the daughter of an acquaintance was featured in the paper. He enclosed the clipping in a handmade frame and used a beautiful fall photo from an old calendar as a background.
There are other items, too, such as a coal buggy built from scrap wood and filled with genuine Smock coal, which was donated for a prize giveaway during one of Smock’s homecoming celebrations held every other July. The donation for this year’s homecoming celebration is a newly constructed double outhouse, complete with moon-shaped cutouts in the doors and tiny handcrafted rolls of toilet paper tacked inside.
Kopachko honed his woodworking skills many years ago when he worked in construction, building homes in Pleasant Hills, Allegheny County. He kept up with those skills as a furniture repairer and upholsterer. Decorative nails left over from this line of work are used in his creations today. He’s also worked a variety of other jobs during his life: at a steel mill, on the railroad and at a general store in Smock.
Not much money goes into his creations.
“The coal buggy cost about a dollar,” Kopachko said.
Some materials have been stockpiled for years in his workshop, which doubles as his garage. It’s there that countless pieces of odds and ends are waiting for their turn to decorate a doodad, trophy or model.
Typical craftsmen’s tools such as a band saw, jigsaw, table saw and square are used for his projects.
“I have just about every little tool you can imagine,” Kopachko said. “This is just a hobby, but I’ll tackle anything in woodworking.”
He doesn’t use patterns and often sketches out a plan when an idea comes to him. Most everything he builds is for himself. “But if anyone sees something I have made, I can make one for them, too,” he said.
The tinkerer does have an accomplice, his wife, Josephine Kopachko. The couple recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. And, yes, Josephine Kopachko’s celebratory corsage now rests in a shadow box built by her partner.
“I don’t mind it,” she said, referring to her husband’s hobby. But she said she does scold him every so often about cleaning up his workshop. “Although we haven’t run out of space yet,” she concedes.
He jokes that when he dies, she can clean out the garage and hold a big yard sale with all his tools.
About seven years ago as Kopachko was leaving a grocery store, he looked down on the ground and found a silver cross, similar to those of a rosary. He gathered it up and took it home.
“I’ve probably handled that cross a thousand times when I was looking for something to use on a project,” Kopachko said. The cross finally found its home sitting atop the steeple of a model of Smock’s St. Hedwig Church that Kopachko built about a year ago. The model is nearly an exact replica of the church, down to the red stained-glass windows.
He also designed for St. Anthony Friary a square-shaped donation basket for those who are lighting candles to honor or remember others. He positioned a sculpted white cross on a black background at one end and fashioned an edging around the base similar to a white picket fence.
He’s one of the unpaid Mr. Fix-its for his church, too. As a former furniture repairer, he has fixed many chairs for the church. Although he receives no monetary compensation for the repairs, he hopes to eventually collect his reward. “I’m working my way to heaven,” Kopachko said with a laugh. “For what I’ve been doing for the church, I’ve been told the gates are open.”
The items created by the spry octogenarian command more appreciation than more casually acquired, purchased items. They also are perceived as immensely more valuable simply because they are handmade with passion and care. And Kopachko said it feels good proving that his imagination still works with each newly created project.
“I love this,” he said. “It’s something to be proud of.”