Slide of the Month Extra - Philmont 50th training logo

February 2020

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Philmont / Bill Macfarlane

Days till PhilmontCountdown

It is my understanding, the 50th anniversary Philmont training center logo looked like this. I would post a link to the patch but as the patches online are all for sale (ebay, etsy...), there is a good chance the link would be broken before you had the chance to see it. I'd suggest doing a google image search for Philmont scout ranch training center 50th anniversary patch.

Considering the rays of the zia, I decided to carve this slide from maple. I cut the outline of the zia first and then used a Dremel style tool with a rotary saw bit to cut the spaces in the rays. Once that was finished, I carved the center as a dome. The slide was painted with hobby paints and I freehanded the brand using a paint pen. A couple of coats of poly finish it off.

A quick note aside, I much prefer using Minwax Polycrylic to finish off my slides but as my local big box home improvement center (think orange) no longer carries Minwax products I picked up the brand they now carry (think a rusty brand). I'm not a fan of the finish I'm getting so I guess I'll have to find it locally at a hardware store or get it at the "blue" home improvement.

Slide of the Month Extra - Philmont winter

February 2020

Time to make: 2 hours

Finishing: 2 hour

Original design: Bill Macfarlane

Days till PhilmontCountdown

It never occurred to me that Philmont has a winter program! Here is a great video on the program.

Carved from southern yellow pine, this another adaptation from a Philmont patch having many levels. The levels from top to bottom are the buffalo, the mountain, snow, sky and outside ring. I painted the slide with hobby paints, the lettering and snowflake were done with water slide paper, and I finished it off with a couple coats of poly. BUT...I forgot the water around the buffalo's feet so I used a paint pen to create the water after the slide was finished.

Slide of the Month Extra - First Philmont shakedown hike

February 2020

Time to make: 4 hours

Finishing: 2 hour

Original design: Bill Macfarlane

Days till PhilmontCountdown

It occurs to me that I now have more Philmont neckerchief slides than I have weeks to go before I leave. (And, I have more designs I'm working on.) So with that in mind, I going to try to publish a couple a week if I can remember to do it. Without further ado..

Ah...there's nothing like a shakedown to make you realize what your missing and make you question your choices on the things you brought. You learn how to pack through mistakes your have made and different ideas that other are doing you want to adopt for the next shakedown hike. Here we see a hapless sole who has packed a coffee pot, a racket ball racket, a Dutch oven, and yes the kitchen sink. It even looks like he is going to lose his sleeping bag as it is only held on by a single strap. I can't imagine what the total weight of the pack would be!

What a fun little concept slide! All parts of the slide, with the exception of the racket, were carved from southern yellow pine. I carved this slide in different pieces and,  after attaching handles or the faucet and painting, attached them to the pack with wood glue. The racket, also glued to the pack, was a cell phone tool (used to open the sim card tray) with a piece of wire insulation for the handle and some gauze for the webbing.  Painted with hobby paints and finished off with a couple of coats of poly.

Slide of the Month Extra - Philmont Museum

February 2020

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Philmont / Bill Macfarlane

Days till PhilmontCountdown

One of the places I'm looking forward to exploring either before we set out or after we are off-trail.

Carved from southern yellow pine, the area between the pads and nails of the paws were notched out using a simple v-cut. The slide was painted with hobby paints and the lettering as well as the arrowhead was made using water slide paper. A couple of coats of poly finish it off.

Slide of the Month - Cable Car

February 2020

Time to make: 2 hours

Boys Life "Slide of the Month"

September 1972 page 50

Original design: Unkown






Cable cars are a fascinating mode of transportation and, even though I never have ridden one, it must be exciting for first-time riders. You can find more information on cable cars here.  The information I found on this particular cable car is from the Cable Car Museum.

"Built by the Carter Bros. of Newark, California during 1893-1894 for the Market Street Railway's Sacramento-Clay cable car line. The United Railroads transferred it to the Powell Street cable car lines in 1907, after the Earthquake and Fire of 1906. Until 1973, numbered as No. 510. Extensive rebuilding, by Muni's Elkton shops 1960."

I took a different path to this slide deciding to carve the cable car and glue the details onto the slide instead of gluing the wood to the photo.  So my first step was to Google a suitable picture if a cable car and then I printed several copies onto a piece of photo printer paper.  Next, I took one of the copies and glued it to a piece of maple so I could cut out the outline of the cable car on a band saw. Also, using the photo I began to cut out the details from the cowcatcher to the roof. When I was finished, I painted the cable car with craft paints. The handrails are made from paper clips which were glued to the cable car. I then cut out, from the other printed copy, the scenes in the windows and the sign below the windows and glued them in place. A couple of coats of poly finish it up.