Thursday, November 25, 2010

Minitaure Knot Board



Mid Nov. 2010

Time to carve: 0 hours
Other work: 1.5 hours
Finishing: .5

Some times I look at a slide and I not so sure I am going to like it when it is done. This is one of thus slides but I was so wrong because this is really a great slide! I started with a thin round from a craft store. Next I found some old computer wire to form the knots and set forth tying them. This took me back to my days as a Tenderfoot in short order I had a bunch of knots ready for mounting. I painted the round white and when it was dry, I super glued the knots on the round. Using a labeler, I labeled each knot and then finished it with a couple of coats of poly.

OA Slide (2)

Mid Nov. 2010

Time to carve: 1 hour
Finishing: .5 hours

The second Order of the Arrow slide I've done and it is my understanding that members of the Los Angeles OA made these back when Whittlin Jim published this slide. Made of maple, I roughed this out on the bandsaw and set to work on the slide. When I finish carving and sanding it, I painted the slide with craft paint. As usual I finished it off with a couple of coats of poly. I like the simplicity and elegance of this slide! I wonder if the LA lodge members still make this slide?

Copper arrowhead

Early Nov. 2010

Time to carve: 0 hours
Metal work: 1.5 hours
Finishing: .5

I was in one of my favorite hardware stores one day and noticed they carried small sheets of heavier gauged copper than what I had at home. Remembering this slide, I got the copper and proceeded to cut out the patten. Just in case, I thought, I cut out two just in case I ruined the first one. Getting out a ball-peen hammer and set forth beating the heck out of the copper blanks. Once I got them hammered out, I turned the blanks and hammered the other side against a piece of wood. This cupped the metal into the shape needed for the slide. Hmmm...I thought both blanks turned out pretty good! A bit of sanding on the edges to smooth them. Now, I cut some more copper to form the backs of the slides and soldered the backs onto the slide using a small torch. An interesting effect from the torch, it discolored the copper arrowhead. This is really a good thing because after a slight buffing with fine steel wool the raised area where now shiny and the recessed areas still had the discoloring which really gives it some depth. Now I've got two really good looking slides.

Sittin' Pretty

Early Nov. 2010

Time to carve:2 hours
Finishing: 1 hour

Multiply pieces to carve with this slide. The first is the piece of cheese which not only has two neckerchief holes on top merging into one hole one the bottom, but also a hole within a hole in which the head of the mouse is mounted. The head is tricky since it has small details and it needed to be strong enough to carry those small details. Maple fit the bill here. The eyes are the heads of pins and the whiskers are made from paint brush bristles. Both were set in place by drilling small holes to hold the eyes and whiskers then gluing them in place. The tail is a piece of gray leather also glued in place. Painted with craft paints and finished off with a couple coats of poly.

Tom tom

Late October 2010

Time to carve: 0 Hours
Finishing: 2 Hours

The ring is made from a 2 1/4 PVC cap, I had hanging around my workshop, I cut the end off and sanded the edges. The top is made from some thin white leather cut in an X pattern with the center big enough to cover the ring. The arms of the X are thin so they can be tied behind the ring. The leather is soaked in water before attaching it to the ring and while still wet, I took thread and needle to sew up the sides which cinches up the leather. The designs were painted using paint pens and the whole slide was coated with a couple of coats of poly.

Compass

Mid October 2010

Time to carve: 0 hours
Finishing: 2 hours

When I look at the original pattern last spring I thought, hey I seen that kind of brass compass this should be easy to make. The funny part is I looked and looked for one of those and could not find one no matter where I looked. Oddly enough, I was packing my backpack for a hike on the AT and discovered a compass I found at summer camp. The compass was tossed in the wood by someone because it would not turn on it's base. Not wanting to leave it there, I put it in my pack to throw it away later. Now I had an idea, I broke the compass away from the base and cut a piece leather for the slide. Next I needed to fasten the compass to the leather. I could have just glued it to the hole in the leather but I wondered if I could make it so it would turn. I needed to find something strong enough to whole the compass in place but thin enough so I could use it with the leather. Cutting some plastic from an empty orange juice container, the plastic worked like a charm since it was pliable enough to fit over the flange in the back of the compass. I also decided to sew the plastic to the leather for more support. Now I have a workable compass slide.

Korea


Sept. - Oct.  2010


Time to carve: 12 hours
Finishing: .5 hours

Sometimes there is a slide that just "kicks your butt" while your trying to make it. Well this is one of those slides. I roughed out the cylinder back in September then spent the next month trying to figure out how to carve this pattern. Night after night erasing the pencil marks and redrawing the weaving pattern only to becoming confused when it was time to put knife to wood.  Finally one night the pattern made sense and I began to carve. I can tell you first hand if you try this slide, take your time, have a sharp knife, and concentrate when carving. Finished with shellac it stands out as a favorite in my collection. But why is it named Korea? According to Whttlin Jim, "that's where it came from".




A What's It

Late August 2010

Time to carve: 1.5 hours
Finishing: .5 hours

An interesting slide because it raises an eyebrow when people see it but also scratching their heads when they see what it can do. Carved from maple and the dot attached with fishing line. I finished it off with shellac.

The science behind this is the slide, despite the weight of the belt, transfers the center of gravity to the tip of the slide.  By focusing this to the tip, I can balance the belt on my finger.

Friday, October 8, 2010

...flag, totem, and Wood Badge

Sept. 2010

Time to carve: 3 hours
Finishing: 1.5 hours

Now if you follow my inconstant posts, you might have wondered where have I been? Well the answer is that I've been busy with Wood Badge. In fact I write this on the eve before my second weekend. Yeah, I should be getting some sleep. Anyway I wanted to post these projects before going because there is a good chance I won't see them again. Without further ado...

"I use to be a bear and a good old bear to..." So sitting around with my patrol we where trying to think of how to leave our mark on the service patrol emblem. I saw an unusual stick on the ground, picked it up and started to carve. In no time flat there was a Bear tooth (colored with permanent marker) hanging from the shovel. (Setting the bar high on the first day.) I took the same stick home and carved four more teeth for our patrol flag. What you don't see (because I have that side down) is each bear tooth has our name painted on it. I still am not sure what kind of wood it was but they should look great hanging from our flag!

The second project will don the program patrol emblem and is based on our totem drawn on the first day we were a patrol, Made from maple, it was a piece I messed up on with the Monkey slide but worked well for this slide. The ears are made of leather and the fish was carved separately and glued on. Painted with craft paints and sealed with a few coats of poly.

and now its "Back to Gilwell, happy land, I'm going to work my ticket when I can"

EDIT: I'm pleased to say, the bear totem slide is now on it's way to N2-66-11-1 August 26-28th 2011 at Camp Tadma. Good luck with the course Mark and thanks for bringing the spirit of the Bear Patrol and NE-II-192 with you.


Monday, August 30, 2010

One year later

A year ago...

I was the new scout master of our troop
I had just come back from Outdoor Leader Essentials training
and I had found a passion of carving neckerchief slides

Some reflections as I go forward...

So far, cow horns are more difficult to find than I thought
Butterball does not include neck bones with its frozen turkeys
As much as I tried, finding a armadillo tail in New England still eludes me and I understand they may carry leprosy.
I still trying to learn to bend wood. (But can't wait to try out the new steamer I made.)
I'm always on the lookout for items for the slides.

Going forward...

I going to Wood Badge training (which I wanted to do for years)
I look forward to this year with the troop
and I still carry the passion to carve towards my goal

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Life Preserver

Late August 2010

Time to carve: 0 hours
Finishing: .25 hours

While not an Whittlin Jim pattern, I wanted to make this "Slide of the Month" for a Scout who earned his BSA Life Guard award this summer at camp. The ring is a pre-painted white curtain rod ring I found at Home Depot. The rope is nylon cord and the red is duct tape. This slide takes literately 15 minutes to make and by far is the easiest to date.

EDIT: As it turns out, there was a Whittlin Jim column also on this slide.

Boiled Lobster

End August 2010

Time to carve: 2.5 hours
Finishing: 1 hours

One thing you notice when vacationing in Plymouth, MA, the gift stores have lots of lobster kick-knacks. So it was only fitting the next pattern in my pack was a lobster. Carved from Oak (because it was the only wood I had that was large enough)this slide took a sharp knife and a lot of patience. The antenna were made from a boom bristles and the eyes a couple of black plastic headed pins. Painted with craft paint and finished with poly.

Jaguar

Mid August 2010

Time to carve: 3.5 hours
Finishing: 1.5 hours

Turning to basswood this time (because the piece I had was the right size)I struggled to try to get this slide to look right. As a result it is about half the size of the block I started with. Once I had it shaped to my satisfaction, I began to paint the slide. I wasn't happy with the orange color I painted it so I gave it a over coat with a linen colored paint. With the orange showing through the linen I got the color I was going for. When all the painting was done, I made the teeth from some scrape white plastic and super glued them in place. It is finished with a couple of coats of poly.

Water Buffalo II

Mid August 2010

Time to carve: 1.5 hours
Finishing: 2 hours

Another case of more than one pattern for slide. The Water Buffalo finds its way to my carving knife again but with a slightly different twist on the horns. Made of maple it was easy to carve but the finish to me makes it stand out. Mistaking this slide with another, I initially stained this slide. Realizing the error, I sprayed the slide with a couple of coats of flat black paint. Interestingly enough, the paint cracked and gave the slide an old look so I decided to finish it off as is with a couple of coats of poly.

Ox Yoke

Early August 2010


Time to carve: .5 hours
Metal work: 1 hour
Finishing: 2 hours

It's funny to me that I always seem to have a couple of slides in the works at the same time and this is no exception. While carving the Hungry Bear, I came across this pattern and thought I would cut it out. A short while later I had the bow yoke made so all I had to do was make ox bow from some metal stock. Well bending the metal wasn't going well until I made a bending jig using a small piece of pipe, some wood screws, and a block of wood. The wood is stained and the metal pieces painted with some black "hammered" paint. Finished off with a coupled of coats of poly.

Hungry Bear

Early August 2010

Time to carve: 5 hours
Finishing: 2 hours

This was a tricky slide to carve! Carved from maple for it's strength (and because I have a good supply, hollowing out the different areas necessary was hard to do. I roughed out as much as I dare do with the band saw but I had to depend on a sharp knife to pull this off. When I finally finished carving, I did not thing the neckerchief would fit through the tiny arm holes. After trying it out, before painting it, I began to see why it was designed like this. The slide "hugs" the neckerchief giving the appearance of the bear peaking out. Kewl! Painted with craft paints, following the article's instructions, and finished off with poly.

Hungry Bass

Early August 2010

Time to carve: 4 hours
Finishing: 2.5 hours

What an unusual slide! I started this slide a couple of times because I just could not get the opening in the mouth quite right. Each time I had to adjust the fish pattern to be larger than I was expecting. The hard part was getting the hole large enough to accept the neckerchief and deep enough to cut out the gills so it would meet the hole in the mouth. Once this was accomplished shaping
the rest of the fish was really easy. I really hated to go much father since the maple fish body looked so good but I still had to add the fins on the back and bottom of the fish. The original pattern called for leather so I found some stiff leather and cut the fins out. I notched the wood and glued the fins in place using some super glue. Painting according to the directions and finishing it with a couple of coats of Poly.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Steer skull

Mid July 2010

Time to carve: 3.5 hours
Finishing: 2 hours

Started this one at summer camp too...but just barely. Carved from maple it is one of the more unusual slides
I've made. I had trouble visualizing this but as I carved I seemed to find my way. (The closest I have been to a long horn steer skull is the on the screen at the movies.) The eye and horn sockets had to be shaped at a different angle than I am use to seeing. But I digress...the slide was painted with craft paints and when dry, given a black wash to bring out the cracks in the skull. The horns were made from some scrap plastic trim I had laying around.They were rounded and heated to form the bends, and then glued into place. A couple of coats of poly finish it off.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Monkey

Mid July 2010

Time to carve: 3.5 hours

Finishing: 1.5 hour

Well it's during the third camp of the month, (and the only one I'm staying at) I'm carving the Monkey slide. Now the thing that is really funny is while I packed my carving stuff, I forgot to bring any finished slides for a neckerchief. So I've got two choices, go without a neckerchief during flag ceremony or wear an unfinished slide. I went with the unfinished slide but what was really interesting was the response of scouts from other troops as they watched the slide develop. By week's end, I kept getting asked "Is that the same slide?", and "How did you make that?". But probably the most surprising to most (especially those taking First Aid MB) no cuts and no blood was shed making this slide. Painted using craft paints and sealed using a couple of coats of poly, the final step was gluing on the eyebrows and ear fuzz. While it doesn't show up well in the photo, they both are made from some feather fuzz and super glued to the slide.

Padlock

Early July 2010

Time to carve: 2 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

July is a busy month, so much going on between Scout camps and other camps. I started this slide while waiting for the closing ceremony of NYLT at Rotary Scout Camp. Made from maple, it didn't take long to flesh this one out as I waited for my scouts to arrive in there patrols. A bit of sanding and I was ready for a key. Oddly enough, I had a key

that came as swag with a old text based computer game. (Yeah, I've been around computers for a long time.) I made the keyhole slot and fitted the key. Painting the lock with some chrome spray paint, it took a couple of coats with light sanding in between to give it a smooth brilliance. When dry, I glued the key in place. Wearing the slide is easy because the neckerchief is brought through the hasp.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

A Rugged Scotsman

Late June 2010

Time to carve: 6.5 hours
Finishing: 1.5 hour

Aye, I been looking forward to carving this one. Carved from maple it is a mix of a chip and finished carving. Though roughed out on the band saw, there was quite a bit of carving involved with this slide. (Lots of sharping too.) I finished this up with craft paints and a couple of coats of poly. When it was done, I almost felt like I should have been carving this under moonlight - the "Lantern". Loch Sloidh

Flashlight

Late June 2010

Time to carve: 0 hours
Leather work: 1 hour
Finishing: .5 hour

I have had this slide in the back of my mind for a while now but couldn't seem
to find the right flashlight. Then when helping my daughter clean her room, I came upon a little flashlight that would be just right. My daughter didn't want it anymore (because it didn't work) so I set forth fixing it. A bunch of hearing aid batteries and some fine sand paper latter I had a working flashlight.
Next came the the leather part of the slide and I began by laying it out on paper first. Once I had worked out, I cut it out,punched out holes for the flashlight and around the outside edge for lacing. Somehow plastic lacing, or gimp, just didn't look right so I decided to use a natural string instead.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Paul Bunyan's Hollow Tooth

Late June 2010

Time to carve: 3.5 hours
Finishing: 1 hour

OK, I got tp to admit this one is a bit weird. I mean the thought of wearing a tooth around one's neck. Made from Maple, roughed it out on the band saw and began the process of shaping the tooth. Lots of carving, lots of sharping the knife as sat and chipped away. Man... maple is hard! The odd part, when I started sanding, was I was having a hard time deciding what to sand smooth and what to leave a little rough. In the end I smoothed the part above the gum and left the roots somewhat rough (like a real tooth). Two coats of white craft paints and waited for it to completely dry before giving the roots a dark brown wash. A couple of coats of poly finish it off.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Peyote Beading

Late June 2010

Time to carve: 0 hours
Beading: 4 hours
Finishing: 0 hour







 
Looking ahead to the next few patterns, I saw the Peyote Beading slide and wonderedwhat design to make. Also on my mind was the Wood Badge class I will be taking in the fall. Hmmm...just maybe I could combine the two....
I set out with graph paper and colored pencils in had to sketch out the MacLaren Tartan. After a couple of tries I had the pattern and when out to get some beads. The colors turned out to be a bit tricky since I was really limited to the beads on hand at the store. As a result I have two different dark green beads that are close enough to work. Next I built a beading loom and, while it is not what was called for in the original article, it is the method I know. Moving forward I found my eyes are not what they use to be and I had to break out my "cheaters" while stringing the beads. I completed the base of the work in one evening (see second pic)and sewed the ends together the next morning forming the slide. I really like this one and who knows maybe I make some "unofficial" shoulder loops using the same pattern.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

OUCH!

Mid June 2010

Time to carve: 1.5 hours
Finishing: 1.5 hour

A funny cartoon kind of slide that was easy to make. Carved from maple, there is really nothing really hard about this slide. The arrow is a bamboo food skewer that is passed through a hole drilled in the head and glued in place. The feathers are made from some plastic from a gift card. The original slide pattern called for skunk hair to be glued to the head. Hmmmm...fresh out of skunk hair around here (and no real ambition to get some). Off to the craft store to find some fake fur and it seems the smallest amount you can buy is 1/8 of a yard of the material. I only needed 2 inch strip 1/4 inch wide to be glued to the head for some pretty good looking hair. (I have enough left over to make 200 or more of these slides.)

GOB

Mid June 2010

Time to carve: 5 hours
Finishing: 1.5 hour

GOB? What's a GOB? As it turns out, according to an online dictionary, it is slang for a sailor. (go figure) Another sailor pattern from Whittlin Jim and I set off on this slide with a big piece of maple. What struck me about this one was the size of the nose. Now I not very good with faces as a rule because the nose never looks right to me. This one was no exception I guess because it seems out of proportion to the rest of the face but that is what the pattern called for.

Gooney Bird

Early June 2010


Time to carve: 1.5 hours
Finishing: 2 hour

...and now for something completely different. An easy project with feathers. Yeah, I got to admit I had my doubts on this one but I kind of like how it turned out. Getting a wooden ball from a local craft store, I cut in in half and then cut a small angle in the top ball for the feathers. The head was carved from some scrap maple and the hardest part was fitting it to the body. Now I guess I could have flattened the body where the head would go but I decided to hollow out the head to match the curvature of the body. Whittlin Jim called for some split pea eyes but I opted for some made from a small dowel and glued to the head. I had some feathers around from a different project, when I was a WEBELO's leader, which I cut to size and super glued to the body. Painted with some craft paints and finished with a couple of coats of poly

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Easter Island Stone Face

Early June 2010

Time to carve: 6.5 hours
Finishing: 1 hour

Whittlin Jim wrote how he had read "AKU-AKU,The Secert of Easter Island" while in Hawaii and was inspired. Hmmm...I thought...this the second Easter Island Stone head pattern he had done. I read on. "When I picked up a piece of Milo driftwood", Milo driftwood, where am I going to find Milo driftwood around here? Then I noticed a little note stating that Milo wood is about the same color as walnut. Hey, now that I've got (thanks to my father-in-law family farm). This would be the first project in several weeks since having a wart removed from my thumb. Carved from (really really hard) black walnut over a couple days, I spent almost as much time sharping the knife as I did carving. A lot of sanding with this and a couple of coats of poly finish it off.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

N.W. Coast Totem

Mid May 2010

Time to carve: 4 hours
Finishing: 1.5 hour

When I was looking for a piece of wood for this slide, I knew it had to be a hardwood but try as I might, I didn't have a thick enough piece. Thinking about I decided, since it would be painted, I could glue a couple of pieces of maple together and with a good tight joint the side would look like one solid piece. I could rough this out a little on the band saw but most of this was carved by hand. I really have to say that this too a lot more time than I expected and necessitated many breaks to sharpen my blades. When it was done and sanded, I painted it with craft paint finishing it up with a couple of coats of poly.

Busy Beaver

Mid May 2010

Time to carve: 1.5 hours
Finishing: 1.5 hour


With the deadline for the deposit for a Wood Badge class I am going to take, I had an idea for my next slide. Now I don't know just which patrol I will be in but this slide might my critter. Carved from a solid piece of maple, this surprised me as being much easier to carve than I expected. I roughed it out with the band saw and set out with a sharp knife to round the surfaces. The hardest part of this slide was carving the head and "chewed" part of the log. Painted with craft paints, making the log look like a birch log took some time. Finished off with a couple coats of poly before adding the leather loops. Nice!

Arrowhead

Early 2010

Time to carve: 0 hours
Metal work: 2 hours
Finishing: 0 hours

Also while in Mystic, I picked up a couple of arrowheads at a gift shop with a few different slides. I been waiting to make this slide for awhile now and the arrowhead was the last missing piece. Using some leftover brass from earlier projects, the base of the slide was cut then hammered with a ball peen hammer to give the finished look. The holder, for the arrowhead, is also made of brass and took some time to custom fit. The slide loop,arrow head holder, and base were all connected together with a steel pop rivet. After all the brass was secured, the arrowhead was set in place and the holder tabs bent to hold the arrowhead.

Apple Core

Early May 2010

Time to carve: 1.5 hours
Finishing: 1.5 hour

...meanwhile. This slide was carved from a 1 1/2 inch poplar dowel. The center is made using a "chip" method while the top and bottom is finished. Painted with craft paints then the seeds and stem (from a real apple) are glued in place.A couple of coats of poly finish it off.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Diversion (Wood Spirit)

Early May 2010

Time to carve:2.5 hours
Finishing:.5

Another slight diversion but a very useful one. While in Mystic, I picked up a book on carving Wood Spirits and with a request from my wife decided to give it a try. Using the rest of the birch stick I picked up for the Axe in Block, I carved this one night while following the directions in the book. The birch was rather soft and I came close to ruining it a few times. When it was done I decided to stain it with some minwax stain. It really changes the character of the piece but also made it hard to photograph (sorry). As it turned out, my wife decided not to use it for her project and came up with a good idea instead so now I have a nice totem for scouting.

Shark!

April 1, 2010

Time to carve: 4 hours
Finishing:4 hours

An extremely hard slide to carve since it has intricate materials that have traveled between here in Mass to Florida so many times...

Sorry a late April fool's joke on my sister-in-law. You see for years my wife and my sister-in-law have traded this shark pin back and forth for years. You never knew where it would show up as the last one to have it hides it somewhere at others house. It has taken on several variations. For example, we place some 50+ stickers hidden all over her house, while she and her husband were out, and would not tell her where the pin was till they found all the stickers. We, on the other hand, have 52 "shark pin" playing cards. So Chris where will the pin show up this time...

...and now back to the quest

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Wormy Apple

Mid April 2010 (End Jan. 2010)

Time to carve: 3 hours
Finishing: 1.5 hour

OK, so why the two different months? Well back when I was starting the Pueblo Indian Pottery, I started to create this from memory. My memory failed me in this case because when I took a look at the pattern I had craved it incorrectly. I threw this one into a bin of scrap wood. When I came to the Wormy Apple pattern it suddenly occurred to me I had this half down if I used this scrapped project. I threw it into a pack with my knife and went off to Mystic, CT with my family. The main part of the apple was carved and when we got back I started on the worm. The worm was make from a piece of white plastic with the segments cut into the plastic. Painted with craft paints and then the two pieces glued together for finishing with a couple of coats of poly.

Axe in Block

Late April 2010

Time to carve: 1.5 hours
Finishing: 1.5 hour

I thought about this slide ever since deciding to take Wood Badge training. The hardest part was finding the right "log" for the slide. I wanted a birch "log" but to cut a live branch I would need to wait it to dry out. Finding a branch on the ground in the woods proved to be a waste of time since anything on the ground, after falling off a tree, was too far decayed. What to do? Well a couple of years ago there was a ice storm north of here and quite a few trees came down in the woods and along the roads. Recently I was driving to one of our plants and I noticed how many birches were cut up lying on the side of the road. I stopped on the side of the road, in one such spot and fowund what I was looking for ... a seasoned piece of birch. The handle was made from a leftover piece of cherry and the axe head from "plumber's putty". This putty is amazing stuff! I am guessing it is an epoxy and dries has hard as a rock in roughly 5 minutes. During that harding time you and shape it any way you want and after it is hard it is sandable. A small V cut in the birch, some glue to fashion the axe to the birch, some craft paint on the head and this is ready for some poly. I can't wait to wear this on the first day of Wood Badge training!

O.A. Slide

Late April 2010

Time to carve: .5 hours
Other work: 1
Finishing: 1.5 hour


Made from some very thin birch plywood, the OA and the arrow were cut out and sanded. The W's were made from brass, basically cut out using tin snips, and filed to a finish. I painted the wood using craft paints and coated it with a couple of coats of poly. Something odd happened with the finish and the brass discolored in the corners probably because it was a water based and most likey I will remove it from the brass and try an oil based poly on the brass.

Pedro's Lucky Shoe

Late April 2010

Time to carve: 1 hours
Finishing: 1.5 hour

Next in my list was Pedro's Lucky shoe was the next slide in line and after doing the Pedro - His Mark slide it was an easy one to visualize. Made of Maple, this project took very little time after roughing it out on the band saw. Wought iron was a natural for the color of the slide and a couple of coats of poly finish.

Sailors Rosette

Mid April 2010

Time to carve: 0 hours
Other work: 1
Finishing: 1 hour

After spending some time in Mystic CT and seeing one of the largest Sailor's Rosette I had ever seen, I was reminded of a Whittlin Jim slide pattern. Now while the photo doesn't do it Justice, this really looks great! I made the weaving frame using some scrape pine and some brad nails. Leftover cotton clothes line forms the rosette. I needed to study the weaving pattern but quickly got the hang of it and once removed from the form, it was an easy task to tighten the rosette to the final knot. To form the loop, I tied the loose ends together with some thread. Finishing took a couple of coats of shellac.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Hits and misses

Kudos to halfeagle.com one of the coolest list of Scouter blogs I have ever seen. Also a great blog called Scoutmaster with good information and podcasts that I am looking forward to listening to when I get home. (On vacation right now and have a slide I am going to make based on a large one I saw here but more on that in another post.) I would recommend these sites to all scouts and scouters.

Misses? "Where did your site go?" asked my sister-in-law today me today. Huh? For some reason my site was removed for a time today but hopefully will stay up and I haven't broken a "terms of service" rule.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Diving Eagle

Early to Mid April 2010
Time to carve: 4 hours
Finishing: 1 hour

At 7 1/2 inches this is the largest slide I have carved to date. (Actually the Giant Titanus Beetle is larger but that is just because of the antennas.) Carved from maple (yeah, I am on a maple kick)for its strength, this slide took quite a while to carve. I roughed it out on the bandsaw but even with this advantage, there was a lot of wood that had to be removed by hand before I could begin shaping the slide. Going forward, the wings needed to take on an elongated oval shape and
my knife didn't perform this task very well. The best way I found was to use sandpaper to shape the way I wanted. The feet had to be carefully carved as not to break off any of the parts. When finally finished carving and sanding I set forth painting this piece. I made one change from the original pattern when it came to the color scheme. The beak and the feet were suppose to be a cream color but when I painted them that color it just didn't look right. My wife has been following a live web cam of the birth of several Bald Eagles so I asked her what color they should be and went with it. (She's so smart.) A couple of coats of poly finish it off.

I like this slide so much, I going to save this till our next eagle ceremony and wear it then.