Slide of the Month - Spirit of Freedom

 

July 2026

Time to Design: 10 hours

Time to Print: 6 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

 
Original design:  Bill Macfarlane

Flag design: Betsy Ross flag by babjazz

The skull stands as a reminder that every life is finite, but the spirit of freedom is timeless. In 1776, brave men and women chose liberty over fear, believing that the right to govern themselves was worth every sacrifice. Though generations pass, the ideals born in that historic year endure, proving that while our bodies return to dust, the pursuit of freedom lives on in the hearts of those who cherish it.

While I can't take credit for the previous paragraph, I think AI nailed it.

I’ve been thinking about this slide for awhile now and it took a bit of time to model as I really could not find the right file on the internet. I started with a file of a real skull that had been scanned to a 3d print and began removing the bits I didn't want. Once I was satisfied, I need to find a tri-cornered hat. Once again, I found a file of a person wearing the hat and removed the figure from the hat. Next came merging the hat and skull together before printing. I painted the hat using craft paints and sealed the paint with some poly.  To finish my concept, I needed a colonial flag in the background and found one to print at the link above. This required printing in red, white, and blue with some super glue to put it together. I also used super glue to connect the skull to the flag.

Slide of the Month: Southernmost Point - Key West

June 2026

Time to Carve: 1 hour

Time to Print: 1 hour

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane

3D print file: A cleaner version of the rooster by iPa64







The second in the vacation series in Key West. So funny story, my wife and I were going to spend a couple of weeks in Key West. On day three, my wife came down with something that kept her bed ridden and I was there tend to her needs. While she slept, I carved. On the fifth day, she went to Urgent Care and found out she had Covid. Guess who else got infected. Long story short (I know too late) we decided be sick at home instead.

This is my version of the southernmost point in the continental United States. Oh and the chicken well they are all over Key West and protected by law. As the legend goes, when Florida banned chicken fighting in 1986, it would cost too much money to transport the chickens to another location. The owners let the chickens go free and now the "gypsy chickens" roam the island.

A simple carving make of wood repurposed from a carving board. The chicken was scaled and printed from the file above. I used multi surface paints which worked well on both wood and the resin print. Finally I finished off the slide by labeling the slide using water slide paper

Slide of the Month: Colman Stove - propane

May 2026

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane

3D files: Folding Scale Camp Stove - 1/10th Scale by DaTryhard22

Coffee Maker and Pot (1_18 Scale)  by zanzatoys

Camp Griddle by Bill Macfarlane



Its the beginning of May and Scout troops are back in full swing camping outside.  Like the slide I made last November, this is an ohmage to the adult leader I had the fortune to serve with as a Leader. Coffee in the Mr. Coffee grill edition, and food on the griddle. (Seriously our troop has a coffee maker for the grill)

A really fun slide to print with different color PLA filaments and one print (the grill part) in ABS resin for strength. The coffee grounds, eggs, and bacon where done with paint pens. All components were glued using super glue. 

The Good, The Bad, and The Meh - Knife edition part 2

 

…and now for an improved knife kit.

 I decided right off the bat, this would be a kit that would be waiting for me at a location I’ll be travelling to and would contain the things I use.  

I used the case from the previous kit as I felt if would provide protection and would travel well

 

I wanted a set of knifes which that were compact enough to fit in the case as well as a supply of blades. I chose the x-acto handles #1 for fine carving, #2 for most carving, and the heavy duty handle that came with the original kit. For blades, I equipped the kit with #11 and #16 for the small handle, #2 and #19 for the medium handle, and chisel tip, U and V gouges for the heavy duty handle. For the case, I also printed out some cases for some of the blades. I also created a magnetic “pick up” tool, using an old paint brush with a magnet glued to it, to retrieve a new blade from the cases.

A quick note: I've used x-acto and excel blades because they are thicker and less liable to break when carving. I tired of cheap thin blades breaking and not keeping an edge. 

 

I also have need for a pin vise quite often, so I included one in the kit along with drills and small chisels for tight areas. (Yes, the chisels are made from old cheap mini screwdrivers.)

 

To fit them in the bottom of the kit, I used some rigid foam cutting out the shapes into the foam

 

As for the top of the kit, I wanted to have a small cutting mat, a small silicone mat, a diamond coated sharpening plates, sandpaper, the drills for the pin vice, the calipers  (from the original kit), and a carving glove.

 

I cut the cutting mat to fit just inside the top of the kit to keep the other items in place. To keep the mat for moving when the kit is opened, I embedded some small screw into the top.

 

Now this is a traveling carving kit!

The Good, the Bad, and the Meh – Knife Edition part 1

(Cue the western theme song)

A while back I did an offshoot series on the loops I use on my slides, and after giving it as little thought as possible, I now present my thoughts on knives. I’m starting with a recent purchase that was picked up for me so I wouldn’t have to check a bag while traveling. (Hint: more vacation slides coming.) What follows is my review.

This set was purchased at a famous hobby store (the one closed on Sundays), though you can find the same kit under different branding in other stores.

Right off the bat, the small screwdriver was broken—or perhaps it had never been glued properly into the handle. I eventually inserted the “bit” into one of the knife handles, sharpened it, and used it as a small chisel.

The blades were thin and brittle. I broke one within five minutes of starting my carving. They also don’t hold an edge for long, which meant frequent sharpening. 

The silver blades, which only fit the larger handle, arrive with no real edge and are so soft that they bend in half with even light pressure. By the time I had roughed out my first slide, I had already gone through about three-quarters of the blades in the kit.

I’m not sure why tweezers are included, but after gripping a single object they bent out of shape—another example of very soft metal.

Three of the four handles have soft “comfort” rubber grips that slide forward during use. After pushing them back into place several times, I eventually removed them altogether.

The calipers are very cheap, but surprisingly they are fairly close in measurement.

In all fairness, I didn’t end up using the scribes, but they actually appeared to be the best tools in the kit.

Five days later, I threw away the last unbroken and unbent blade, three of the handles, the tweezers, and the scribes (I couldn’t bring them on the plane). I kept the large handle, the calipers, and the case after stripping it out (keeping the magnets). I’ll rebuild the kit and post the results in a future installment.

Despite the low price, it’s my opinion that this knife set is suitable only for very light-duty work—and even then, I’d recommend using Kevlar cut-resistant gloves. I would not recommend this set for general use or for wood carving.

Slide of Model: The Ranger Mile

 
April 1st, 2026

Time to make: a ranger minute

Finishing: 1/2 a ranger minute

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane


You've hiked miles and endured the elements getting ready. Sat through hours of planning and readiness talks. Boarded plans, trains and automobiles to finally arrive at Philmont. So many things to do as a crew before you hit the trail and now, as crew chief, you are sitting with logistics staff planning out your trek on the crew map. But did you ever take the time to look at the mileage scale at the bottom of the map? Ah yes, the infamous Ranger Mile!

(If you know, you know.)

 













Why are you looking down here?

Slide of the Month: Rotating gear cubes

 

March 2026

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: .5 hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane

3D file: 3 Cube Gears by BB8blazer






March brings a good many Merit Badge Universities and one of my favorite classes to sit in on is the Engineering.  Along these lines, I fascinated by gears that oddly work together in unexpected ways and this is one of those times. The corners of the cube turn together in different rotating in ways to form shapes.

I printed three of these cubes (red, white and blue filament) using the FDM printer and mixed the parts to assemble these cubes. The loops are connected to the center piece allowing the cube still to function