Slide of the Month - Bow Legged Cowboy

March 2021

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour 

Boys life: May 1983 p. 67 

Original design:  Fritz Hines 

When thinking about what to write about cowboys, I came across a couple of interesting quotes. 

The first is from Gary Benton.

  "Cowboys are my heroes and always have been. They are a complex mixture of compassion, honesty, integrity, and bluntness. They're not the simple folks they project and deep thinking often takes place behind the unblinking eyes. Often they speak little, but listen a lot, because a closed mouth can hear better and learn more." 

The second is from History.com, "Cowboys were mostly young men who needed cash."

With the neckerchief passing through the arms of the cowboy and back threw the legs, I knew right away that the wood for this slide was going to need to be tough. I chose maple because it would take the outward force of the neckerchief without splitting.  Once the shape was roughed out, I used a drill and bit to start the holes for the arms and legs. Then it took a fair amount of whittling to get the holes looking somewhat normal for the character. After sanding, the slide was painted with hobby paints and given a couple coats of poly.

The one thing I didn't carve was the face. I have two reasons for this. First I didn't think I could capture the real identity and soul of a cowboy and secondly I don't like to carve faces. (My carved faces never look right to me!)