Saturday, November 21, 2020

Slide of the Month Extra - Philmont bear bags



November 2020

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design: Bill Macfarlane



 
When camping in bear country, or other critters, one method of  food storage is "bear bags". In Philmont this is the only acceptable method of food storage. The larger of the bags typically contains most of the food (sometimes 4 days worth) and requires several folks just to hoist up the cable.  The smaller "whoops" usually contains the things that needed more frequently or are last minute forgotten items hence the nickname. 

There are a couple of methods I could have used here with the first being to glue two large dowels to a flat piece of wood for the trees. Instead I decided on a stock removal method of carving the trees by removing the wood around them. I painted the slide with hobby paints which on retrospect was a mistake because I should have waited until  I drilled holes for the cable and ropes. (Always learning, sigh). The cable is a piece of stainless steel wire super glued in place. The bags were made from some left over material and the ropes are some thick thread. I used some crazy glue to secure both my knots and the position on the cable as well as the positions on the tree. A couple of coats of poly finish it off.

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Slide of the Month Extra - Philmont Buffalo




November 2020

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Philmont / Bill Macfarlane




 

When I've thought about Philmont, I never thought there were buffalo there but I was wrong. It turn out there is a herd of about 150+. When I was younger, the American buffalo were an endangered species, but due to the efforts of many, it is now considered  "near threatened"

Carved from southern pine (pallet wood), painted with hobby paints, and finished off with a couple coats of poly.  While I really like the slide, the pictures I took don't show the buffalo's details very well because of the dark brown color. (Sorry about that!)

Sunday, November 1, 2020

Slide of the Month - The Soaring Eagle



November 2020

Time to make: 2 hours

Boys Life "Slide of the Month"

Sept. 1993, page 59

Original design: Jeff Springer












Wow, I really like this modern look of an eagle head. It almost reminds me of the Philadelphia Eagle's logo but I'm not much for a football fan.

Carved from maple and painted with hobby paints. A couple of coats of poly finish it off