Slide of the Month Extra: Philmont 2001 A Phil Odyssey

 

December 2024

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour
Boy's Life
Original design:  Bill Macfarlane





2001 A Space Odyssey was one of the first Science Fiction movies on TV I ever saw (not that I understood it then) but the images fascinated me. Years later, on a field trip for a High School English class, I got to see it again but on the big screen and there was so much more to take in. Themes included Human evolution, creation of a weapon, the beginning of weaponize war, The Blue Danube playing as the beauty of earth passes by, space vessels, space stations and  space travel as a common occurrence Pan American, artificial intelligence in the Heuristically Programmed Algorithmic Computer (HAL), and the mystery surrounding the black monoliths from some extraterrestrial life. The movie also left me with so many questions, so when Arthur Clarke published 2010: Odyssey Two, I picked up the book the first day it was available. Both the book and the following movie 2010: The Year We Make Contact while answering some of my questions, it generated many more. It also felt oh so real as the tensions between the US and the Soviet Union paralleled the conflict in the movie.  To me the best  part of the movie was the last message transmitted by HAL

ALL THESE WORLDS

ARE YOURS EXCEPT

EUROPA

ATTEMPT NO

LANDING THERE

USE THEM TOGETHER

USE THEM IN PEACE

Made from pallet Pine, carving the helmet didn't seem quite right to me but when I painted the helmet it all seemed to come together. Painted with hobby paints, lettered with waterslide paper and sealed with a couple coats of polly.

Slide of the Month: Old Tooth Nose

   December 2024

   Time to make: 3 hours

   Finishing: 1 hour

 
   Boy's Life December 1984, page 61

 
   Original design:  Lew Weston










It's that time of the season when everywhere you go you hear the same songs. Imagine if you will if you were working in retail and you had to hear the same Christmas album over and over again for 10 hours a day 7 days a week. Well that was my experience working for a electronics store in the mall. I got so sick of it, one day I went out and got A Chipmunk's Christmas by Alvin and the Chipmunks as a joke on our manager. Turns out the joke was on me because he liked it and we also played that album over and over and over...

Somehow the look of this surprised chipmunk makes me think of those days.

Carved from a block of maple it was a fun project to make. Painted with hobby paints and sealed with a couple coats of poly.

Slid of the Month Extra: Philmont Burro

 

November 2024

Time to make: 2 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Philmont/Bill Macfarlane







The treks that include burros take advantage of lighten the load carried for the crew as the burros can be packed with crew food and tents. These are pack animals (not for riding) just like the miners used in the early days of the area. As easy as this sounds, the crew members still carry everything else in there backpacks. Also as trained as the burros are, they still have a mind of their own and walk and stop when they want to. I have also heard stories of crews falling in love with their burros. It is rumored one crew had a plan to sneak out a burro and bring it back to large city they were from. I guess Amtrak wouldn't let them buy a seat for a burro.

Carved from pallet pine it was a quick slide to make. Painted with hobby paints, lettered with waterslide  paper, and finished with a couple coats of poly.

Slide of the Month:Chain Slide

  November 2024

  Time to make: 3 hours

  Finishing: 1 hour

 
  Boy's Life May 1966, page 54

  Original design:  Whittlin Jim













This was the other slide I missed publishing from Whittlin Jim and what a great slide  to make!

Carved from a single piece of red maple, this chain and weight took a sharp knife, keen eye, and so much patience to release each piece from the others. Sanding took almost as much time as it did in carving. Finishing was also a challenge as it needed to keep each part from touching the others while applying the poly. 

Slide of the Month Extra: Philmont Santa Fe Trail

 

October 2024

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour
Boy's Life
Original design:  Bill Macfarlane

The bicentennial of the Santa Fe Trail was in 2021 and parts of Philmont are on the Santa Fe Trail.  I really liked the design of this patch and decided to make it into a slide.

Carved from pallet pine, it contains several levels, tricky painting, and some unique decals.

Slide of the Month: African Mali Mask

  October 2024

  Time to make: 2 hours

  Finishing: 1 hour

 
  Boy's Life August 1968, page 56

 
  Original design:  Whittlin Jim









So I was doing some record keeping of the slides I've made verses what I have published and I discovered 2 slides I made years ago from Whittlin Jim. I guess after 500 slides, I was bound to miss a couple.

Carved from maple this looks a lot simpler than it really was. Odd angles carve and cutting in recessed areas made me sharpen my knife over frequently. Sanded and stained with walnut stain to give the slide a dark foreboding look. I finished the slide off with a couple of coats of poly.

Slide of the Month Extra: Philmont National OA Exhibit

 

September 2024

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design: Philmont/Bill Macfarlane




Contained in the National Scouting Museum at Philmont is the National OA Exhibit that is dedicated to the history of the Order of the Arrow. I got the chance to see the Museum in 2022 and it was quite interesting.

Carved from pallet pine it has several levels and was an a challenge to paint. Painted with hobby paints, lettered with water slide paper, and finished with a couple coats of poly

Slide of the Month-Indian Neckerchief

 

September 2024

Time to make: 3.5 hours

Finishing: 1.5 hour

 
Boy's Life May 1954, page 66

 
Original design:  Bud R. Erb

I don't know why I waited so long to make this slide. Maybe the thought of making 13 identical feathers made my head spin. Or perhaps it was something about the description about the feathers section that didn't make sense to me. So here is how I made the slide. The feathers and head was cut from a thick piece of maple. Next using a scroll saw, I slowly cut out the the design. I carved and sanded the head first before the feathers. Now laying the slide on the side, I made equal parallel cuts down the length of the wood from the tip of the feather to the top of the head. This created several identical feathers for this slide. I then carefully cut away all feathers form the top the head EXECEPT the top center feather.  Starting at each side of the top of the head, I super glued the right of right and left feather to the center feather. Each feather was then glued down at the centered in a layered fashion. Next I painted the feathers and head with hobby paints and did the vanes in the feathers with a paint pen. I sealed the slide with a couple coats of poly before gluing the hairs to the end of the feathers.

Slide of the Month Extra: Philmont Kwahadi dancers

 

August 2024

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour
Boy's Life
Original design:  Bill Macfarlane





Back when Philmont Training Center was know as the Volunteer Training Center, the Kwahadi dancers of Troop 380, of Amarillo TX, performed there. I did find an article in the PhilNews about Venture Crew 9, also of Amarillo TX, performing in June of 2012.

Carved from pallet pine this was challenging because of the levels and the induvial feathers. Painted with hobby paints, lettered with waterslide paper, and sealed with a couple coats of poly.

Slide of the Month - Pole Crest Slide

August 2024

Time to make: 1.5 hours

Boys Life "Slide of the Month"

Oct. 1993, p. 64

Original design: Jeff Springer












The pole crest is part of the carved art of the Northwest tribes often representing birds, animals, or insects to tell the story.

 The body is carved from maple and the wings/tail are cut from a thin piece of 1/8 inch plywood. It is pained with hobby paints and finished with a couple of coats of poly.

Slide of the Month Extra: Philmont Camping Arrowhead

 

July 2024

Time to make: 2 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Philmont/Bill Macfarlane









Think back about my Philmont experience, I dream of pitching my tent between a stream and trail in a green meadow. The mountains in the distance and the sun high in the sky - very peaceful. 

Carved from pallet pine it contains several levels and as I was painting the mountains, each mountain was painted a darker color of green going back towards the back of the slide. The lettering was done using water slide paper and a couple of coats of poly finish it off 

Slide of the Month-Troop Number

July 2024

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

 
Boy's Life Dec. 1985,  p. 53 

 
Original design:  Jeff Springer

It's July and the excitement of summer camp looms. There is nothing like being with your troop at Summer Camp! No matter if you are a Scout participating in first year rank advancement, Merit Badges, or extra activities (shooting sports, waterfront, climbing, handicrafts, or the trading post) or an Adult watching the pride of accomplishment each Scout feels there. (Oh course Scoutmaster nap time is a definite plus too!) 

Carved from a 1.25 dowel, our troop number was carved before drilling a 3/4 inch hole down the center of the dowel. The background was painted with hobby paints and the slide was finished with a coat of shellac.

Slide of the Month Extra: Philmont Raydo Trek

 

June 2024

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane








The Raydo Trek is one of the unique opportunities where an individual can participate in a challenging personal trek. Lead by two Philmont Rangers, the crews are made up of Scouts from all over the country and possibly the world. This is a strenuous 20 day trek that hikes a good part of the Philmont Ranch. Participants can only do this once in their Scouting career unless they return as a Ranger for Raydo (even then they can only do it once). 

Carved from pallet pine, I really like the different levels that make up this slide. The mountain is ruff chip cut for texture and the hiker and backpack has lots of complexity. I painted the slide with hobby paints before continuing. The hiking staff is made from a skewer which was painted and stained before attaching to the slide. To attach the staff, I drilled a hole through arm and glued the staff in place. Next came the lettering with water slide paper and a couple of coats poly finish it off.

Slide of the Month - Tomahawk

June 2024

Time to make:  3 hours

Boys Life "Slide of the Month"

Jan. 2000, page 63

Original design: Jeff Springer












As I understand it, the Tomahawk was created by Algonquians peoples long before the arrival of Europeans. Used for many everyday tasks like chopping or cutting, they were also used for hunting and as a weapon of war.

I really liked carving this out of maple as it had several challenging layers. Lot's of fun! The slide was painted with hobby paints and finished with a couple of coats of poly.

Slide of the Month Extra: Philmont Black Mountain

  May 2024

  Time to make: 3 hours

  Finishing: 1 hour
  
  Original design:  Philmont/Bill Macfarlane







Black Mountain camp is a staffed camp where staffer portray soldiers at a post Civil War outpost. The camp features black powder shooting and blacksmithing along with the stories of the men of the outpost.

The trail leading to Black Mountain camp is also know as the third toughest hike in the entire state.

I carved this from a thick piece of maple and painted it with hobby paints. The lettering was done with waterslide paper and a couple of coats of poly finish the slide off.

Slide of the Month: Tabasco

  May 2024
  
  Time to make: 3 days

  Finishing: 0 hours

  Original design:  Bill Macfarlane













I was traveling for work many years ago and I ordered an omelet for breakfast one morning in the hotel dining area. When I asked for hot sauce to put on my eggs, I was brought this small bottle of Tabasco.  I knew right away this was going to become a slide because everyone needs some seasoning for camp food.

First a disclaimer, I did indeed use the Tabasco in this bottle at that meal. The thought of keeping food even in a bottle like this for many years just didn't seem right.  Using an eye dropper I carefully cleaned out the bottle with soapy water so I didn't get the label wet. When the bottle was dry, I filled the bottle with a red hobby paint closely matching the color of Tabasco sauce using the same eye dropper. I let the paint dry completely over several days and when dry I filled any voids with more of the same paint.  When all the paint was completely dry all I had to do was to screw on the bottle cap and epoxy a loop to the back of the bottle. A very eye catching slide! 

Slide of the Month- Rock and Mineral Specimens

 
May 2024

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

 
Boy's Life Dec. 1971,  p. 88

 
Original design:  John Taylor



    I've always been fascinated by rocks ever since I took Geology Merit Badge. Not to the level for obsession but there are times I pick up a rock I'm interested in and put it in my pocket. So when I say this slide has taken me three hours to make, this takes in account of the time I took to collect these rocks.

Now I'm not going to go into what each rock (but the red one came from Philmont) is but how the slide is made. I took the large flat stripped rock as my base and super glued the other rocks in place on the flat rock. I also glued a wire loop to the back. 

Slide of the Month Extra: Philmont Cavalcade

 

April 2024

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Philmont/Bill Macfarlane







Philmont's Cavalcade trek is a very different trek because, instead of hiking from camp to camp, the participants ride horses.  It is also one of the most regulated programs as each rider must be under 200 pounds and no crew can go on Cavalcade in consecutive years. The program is so popular that crews must enter a lottery to gain a spot in the program. Just thinking about it, what a great way to experience Philmont like the early settlers did in this marvelous wilderness!

Carved from pallet pine this was a challenging slide because of the perspective aspects of the horse/rider, mountains and sky. Painted with hobby paints and lettered with water slide paper. A couple of coats of poly finish it off.

Slide of the Month Extra: Wash Station

 

April 2024

Time to make: 2  hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane











You never know when inspiration will it you. In this case, I was at camp Wakpominee for an OA ordeal weekend and outside the mess hall I saw this wash station. I had some time before starting my duties in the kitchen so I grabbed my knife and some wood I brought to start carving this slide. 

The wood well I really don't know what kind of wood it is because it was from an old cutting board we had at home. The cutting board, after years of use and many trips through the dishwasher, was falling apart at the glue seams and I thought why not. After carving the basic shape of the wash station, I used a piece of aluminum flashing to form the tub. I painted the station with some hobby paints before I super glued the tub to the station. Next I drilled holes for the faucet and handles both on the front and side of the wash station. The faucet was made from some aluminum wire and the handles are small Philip head screws. These were glued in place using super glue. A couple of coats of poly finished the slide off

Slide of the Month Extra: Philmont Most of us made it

 

April 2024

Time to make: 2 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane








Well...Most of us made it! ...

No it's not a real Philmont award (posted April 1st) but based on the "We all made it" from Philmont and my odd sense of humor.

The redness of the feet and the bandaged blisters tell the tale of the trail. Made from pallet pine painted with hobby paints and the dressings are made from paper towels glued in place. A couple of coats of poly finish it off.

Slide of the Month Extra: Philmont Chase Cow Camp

 

March 2024

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Philmont/Bill Macfarlane








Chase Cow Camp was built in 2019 to replace Dean Cow camp (lost in the 2018 Ute Park fire) and features climbing and repelling. It also is the only camp to feature bouldering great for those who are afraid of heights.

I so like the contrast of smooth and rough like in this slide. Carved from pallet pine, the rocks are carved in chip style and the climber is sanded smooth. I decided to do the sky as a sanded chip style. The slide is painted with hobby paints and the lettering/heart are done with waterslide paper. A couple coats of poly finish the slide off

Slide of the Month Extra: Turks Head with special beads

March 2024

Time to make: .5 hour

Finishing: 0 hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane

With the other length of leather cord I had did the same turks head slide but with a twist. The beads I used were either color changing in the sun or glow in the dark. Neat upgrade to the previous slide

Slide of the Month Extra: Turks Head with beads

 

March 2024

Time to make: .5 hour

Finishing: hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane













I was going through a box the other day and I found a length of leather cord. Not to let it go to waste I quickly tied a turks head slide. Since I had extra on each side I thought why not add some beads to it. Quick and easy slide.

Slide of the Month-Indian Plaques

 

March 2024

Time to make: 1 hours

Finishing: .5 hour

 
Boy's Life July 1982,  p. 64

Original design:  Lew Weston



I would say this was an easy slide to complete but it did take a bit of time on the computer using MS paint to edit, enhance, and color according to the colors suggested in the article. Once I had copies I was happy with, I printed them on waterslide paper and applied they to some hobby rounds that I had painted white. A couple of coats of poly finish them off.  

Slide of the Month Extra: Philmont Phillips Junction

 

February 2024

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

 
Original design:  Philmont/Bill Macfarlane




Phillips Junction is the location of one of the largest commissary's at Philmont (I did a slide about the commissary here.) Beside the commissary, there are campsites, showers and potable water but fishing?

As it turns out it is only 1.5 miles away from Fish Camp so an easy hike to go fishing. Fun tidbit about Phillips Junction, it has the worst radio reception of any of the staffed camps but also has the most vehicle traffic. Must be from all the food being brought in. 

Made from a hobby store plywood oval painted with hobby paints, lettered with waterslide paper and a large hand tied fly glued to the slide. (Yes, I tied the fly.) A couple coats of poly finish it off

Slide of the Month Extra: Pallet

 

February 2024

Time to make: 1 hours

Finishing: .5 hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane








I do a lot of my Philmont slides with reclaimed pallet wood so why not do a pallet slide. The ironic part is there is no pallet wood in this slide.

Using coffee stirrers I created the main 2x4 supports by gluing 3 coffee stirrers together with super glue. When dry I cut them to size and also cut the deck/bottom pieces.  To assemble, I used super glue the deck pieces to the supports and when dry, the bottom pieces were glued to the slide. Super glue was used as a finish for the slide. 

Slide of the Month - The Dolphin

February 2024

Time to make: 2 hours

Boys Life "Slide of the Month"

August 2000, page 63

Original design: Jeff Springer











With crews getting ready to go to Sea Base on school vacation, I got thinking about this slide.
Back years ago when I was a kid, during the golden age of television, there use to be a show called Flipper about a boy and his dolphin . While I loved back then, I realize how it seems corny by today's standards and to me a watery version of Lassie. "Hey Fipper, Bud fell down the well" and the dolphin just laughed.

WOW...this one looked easy but I had a hard time trying to make this one look like Jeff's with the right proportions.  Carved from maple with odd cuts and a lot of sanding. LOTS of sanding. I painted it with hobby paints and finished it off with a couple coats of poly.

Slide of the of the Extra : Philmont Garcia Cow Camp

 

January 2024

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour
 
Original design:  Philmont/Bill Macfarlane

An odd calmness (or exhaustion)  sets in after the holidays and what better time to highlight this slide. Located on the UU Bar ranch, Garcia Cow Camp is located two miles west of Apache Springs and has wonderful cabin set in a beauty meadow. The staff, dressed in traditional garb, portray the rolls of early 20th century conservationists there to catalog wildlife and plants/flowers for there benefactor Ernest Thompson Seton. Unlike the high intensity opportunities offered at the other staff camps, Scouts who travel here will find something the are not expecting - the simple joy of relaxation. From "saunters" in nature to landscape drawings/watercolors it is a chance to be still and observe the world around them.

I decided to try something a bit different with this slide by wood burning the design. I started by doing a free hand drawing the design onto a piece of pallet pine. Next I used a wood burner to go over the lines I had drawn and add shading to the slide. I wanted the edges to have a burnt look so I when around the edges with a small hobby torch. I used water slide paper to letter the slide and a couple coats of shellac to finish it off

Slide of the Month Extra: Treebeard

 

January 2024

Time to make: 2 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane









“You must understand, young Hobbit, it takes a long time to say anything in Old Entish. And we never say anything unless it is worth taking a long time to say.”  As I grow older, I begin to appreciate this quote from the character Treebeard in The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien. I can also apply this to carving as to never be in a hurry to carve something. You wont be happy with the results and you miss out on the enjoyment of carving. 

I came across this piece of birch I had saved from an earlier project when the thought came to me to carve this figure.  Because I have had this for many years and the wood was completely dry, the bark was separated in places from the inner wood. If I was to begin carving, I would have had a lot of the bark breaking off. To prevent it and give me a more sturdy material, I used thin super glue in the space between bark and wood. The result was two fold with the bark absorbing the super glue and also forming a new thin layer between bark and wood. The carving from this point was a simple wood spirit design and I finished the slide with some teak oil.    

Slide of the Month-Cowboy Chaps

 
January 2024

Time to make: .5 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

 
Boy's Life September 1994, page 67

 
Original design:  Jeff Springer






Originally cowboy chaps are meant to be worn over pants to protect the wearer from the thorny chaparral bush when riding a horse.  In current times, you could find chaps being used for everything from the Rodeo to motorcycle riders.

A quick an easy slide to make! Made from a leather chair sample, I cut out the pattern from the original Side of the Month article. Next I punched holes for the slide loop and for the outside edge of the legs. Next I used some paint pens to decorate the slide. Finally I used some brown cordage to join the loop in the back and to form the fringe on the legs. Might be a good Cub Scout project.