Slide of the Month - Turtle Shell

August 2023

Time to make: 2 hours

Boys Life "Slide of the Month"

Mar. 1987, p. 58

Original design: Bill Fleming








Warm summers, cold lakes and turtles, ah the memories of youth! There is just something about the simplicity of a turtle shell and yet each was a work of art.

Carved from maple with the design made using simple v-cuts. The slide was painted using several layers of thin hobby paint to give it a feeling of depth. It's finished off with a couple coats of poly.

Slide of the month - Diamondback

June 2022

Time to make: 3 hours

Time to finish: 2 hours

Boys Life "Slide of the Month"

Dec. 1987, page 73

Original design:  Bill Fleming

I'm (hopefully) a little more than a month out from a Philmont trek I've been training for years now (since before the 2020 trek got cancelled) and I'm starting to think about running across this critter. Now I am not afraid of snakes, I just don't like them. Western diamondback rattlesnakes  are present at Philmont and most likely  wont be a problem for us as long as we leave them alone. Did I mention I don't like snakes.

When thinking about the head of the snake sticking out through the neckerchief, I knew maple was the only way to go for strength. One of the tricky part was to drill the hole through the body of the snake without hitting the area that will become the head. So while still as a block of wood I drilled 2/3 of the way down the center using a 3/4 inch Forstner bit. Next I drew out the rough shape of where the head and body would be located. Taking my sweet time, I carefully carved out the area between the head and the body remembering there was a hole in the center. Once the head was done I moved into carving the coils of the body and then the rattle. Lastly, I made the fangs out of some while plastic drawn out using a little heat. I drilled a couple of holes into the head and glued the fangs in place. I painted the slide with hobby paints and sealed the slide with a couple coats of poly.

Slide of the month - Square Knot (1)

May 2022

Time to make: 2 hours

Boys Life "Slide of the Month"

Dec. 1987, page 73

Original design:  Bill Fleming






The original intent for this slide was to show one's rank by carving a square knot. (Green and yellow for Second class, red, white and blue for Eagle for example.) This square knot represents the Heroism Medal Award and though I never received this award, I wanted to tell you my "Scouts in Action" story as a teen. (Yes, there are others stories but those are as an Adult.)

One summer vacation I was working for Berkshire Farm Center for Youth in the maintenance department. As we were leaving the paint shop, the was a commotion another shop over and our boss yelled for the driver of a rack truck to stop. Several men loaded an unresponsive  co-worker on the open tailgate of the truck and yelled at the driver to get to the infirmary. I don't what processed me  but as the truck started to move, I ran and jumped onto the truck. Having learned First Aid in Scouting, I checked this man's vitals. CRAP, I thought - he wasn't breathing and had no heart beat. I tilted the man's head back and got two breaths in before we arrived at the infirmary. Before I knew it, the head nurse was at my side with oxygen and started bagging as I performed CPR. When the volunteer ambulance arrived, there was only a driver and one crew member. The nurse and I continued CPR all the way in to the ER (approx 1/2 hour). Happily, the co-worker survived and live many more years. Though I was a teen at the time, it was the start of my path of working with volunteer Fire Departments and Rescue Squads.

Carved from maple, this took a sharp knife and a steady hand. Lots of sharpening because the knife had to be razor sharp. The slide is painted with hobby paints and sealed with a couple of coats of poly.

Slide of the Month - Happy hound

January  2022

Time to make: 2 hours

Boys Life "Slide of the Month"

Dec. 1987, page 73

Original design:  Bill Fleming

What makes this hound so happy - it's the New Year!  So we enter the New Year with hopes, dreams, and with any luck no issues that will prevent a Philmont Trek. 

Carved from a piece of maple, I left some areas a bit rough (chip style) for some texture and other areas are sanded smooth (like the eyes and tongue). Painted with craft paints and given a couple of coats of poly to finish it off. I kind of looks like a cartoon character (he-who-will-not-be-named because I don't want the mouse network after me). Let's just call him a name like the one time 9th planet.