Sunday, July 17, 2022

Slide of the month extra - Philmont Rocky Mountain Fur Company Trap


 


July 2022

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design: Bill Macfarlane



On our 7th day and we are on our way to Red Hills camp. We have a lot of options here as we might take a side hike to Mt. Phillips, the second tallest mountain at Philmont,  or hike up to Clear Creek camp and see the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. Since I've already published a slide for them, here is a different take as trapping was a way of life of some early settlers and traps like this caught many animals. One thing of note, Philmont does not allow trapping today and the only reason they are at camp is for historical purposes. 


A little metal working for me as I got the thought of building a leg hold simular to the kind that might have been used during the time period. I found some plans our on the web and set to work using a thin piece of metal I had hanging around here. Not really sure what it's original purpose was (maybe a lamp hanger or a nail on strap of some kind) but it fit the bill for the pieces I  needed. The first thing was to print out a templet of the parts and carefully cut them out. Next I glued the templates to the metal and traced them with a fine tipped laundry marker. I punched and drilled the holes before using a metal cutting wheel on my Dremel to cut out the parts.  Following the direction, I assembled the parts and before I knew it, I had a mini trap! The base of the slide was made from a piece of pine and I screwed the trap to the base to hold it tight. The wood is finished with golden shellac and the lettering done with waterslide paper. 

But I know there is one question in your mind right now...Does it work? Well I dare you.



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