Slide of the Month: Conch Shell

November 2026

Time to make: .5 hours

Finishing: none

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane

Well I wish I could say I found this Conch shell on the beach but in truth it came from a gift shop in Key West.  BTW a Conch is also the name for a native born and raised in Key West.

An easy slide to make as I drilled a couple holes into the back and super glued a coat hanger loop to the shell

Slide of the Month: Gecko

 

October 2026

Time to print: 1.5 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane

3D file: Geco1 by gianpaolo








I see geckos many times when I'm sitting out enjoying my tea in the mornings while on vacation. Funny little creatures that seem as curious about me as I am of them while they dart to and fro.

Another creepy slide as this gecko climbs the neckerchief. Resin printed from the file above, I painted the gecko with multi surface paints and super glued a coat hanger loop to the back.

Slide of the Month: American Barn Owl

 

September 2026

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane









Brutally hot then suddenly wearing a fall coat, yup it's September. Barn owls are out seeking small rodents as they are trying to fatten up for winter and this owl is trying to hide.

Now I'm not sure where I saw this picture but I tried to carve it from memory. Carved from maple this was interesting to carve the smooth head and shoulders as opposed to the feathers. Painted with hobby paints and sealed with a couple of coats of poly.

Slide of the Month: Key West Lighthouse

 

August 2026

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane








Something to know about Key West is that many of the families that have lived there for generations come from "Wreckers".  In the 1800's a young man with a strong back and a boat could make his fortune if he could row faster than others and touch a wrecked boat before the others. The first to touch got salvage rights to the ship (after they saved crew and passengers) could claim insurance or sell the cargo.  Wrecked ships became such an issue that there were calls for a light house. Now you would assume the light house would be built on the shoreline but this light house is inland on the island. Some say they chose the highest spot on the island while other say why ruin the wrecking industry and put it as far away from the shore as they could. 

So while my wife was sick, I thought about the lighhouse we had seen the day before in Key West and got to work. Carved from reclaimed wood from cutting board, I wish I knew what kind wood this was because it was easy to carve while being stronger than expected. When I got home I painted it with hobby paints, gave it a couple of coats of Poly, and labeled it with waterslide paper.

Slide of the Month - Spirit of Freedom

 

July 2026

Time to Design: 10 hours

Time to Print: 6 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

 
Original design:  Bill Macfarlane

Flag design: Betsy Ross flag by babjazz

The skull stands as a reminder that every life is finite, but the spirit of freedom is timeless. In 1776, brave men and women chose liberty over fear, believing that the right to govern themselves was worth every sacrifice. Though generations pass, the ideals born in that historic year endure, proving that while our bodies return to dust, the pursuit of freedom lives on in the hearts of those who cherish it.

While I can't take credit for the previous paragraph, I think AI nailed it.

I’ve been thinking about this slide for awhile now and it took a bit of time to model as I really could not find the right file on the internet. I started with a file of a real skull that had been scanned to a 3d print and began removing the bits I didn't want. Once I was satisfied, I need to find a tri-cornered hat. Once again, I found a file of a person wearing the hat and removed the figure from the hat. Next came merging the hat and skull together before printing. I painted the hat using craft paints and sealed the paint with some poly.  To finish my concept, I needed a colonial flag in the background and found one to print at the link above. This required printing in red, white, and blue with some super glue to put it together. I also used super glue to connect the skull to the flag.

Slide of the Month: Southernmost Point - Key West

June 2026

Time to Carve: 1 hour

Time to Print: 1 hour

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane

3D print file: A cleaner version of the rooster by iPa64







The second in the vacation series in Key West. So funny story, my wife and I were going to spend a couple of weeks in Key West. On day three, my wife came down with something that kept her bed ridden and I was there tend to her needs. While she slept, I carved. On the fifth day, she went to Urgent Care and found out she had Covid. Guess who else got infected. Long story short (I know too late) we decided be sick at home instead.

This is my version of the southernmost point in the continental United States. Oh and the chicken well they are all over Key West and protected by law. As the legend goes, when Florida banned chicken fighting in 1986, it would cost too much money to transport the chickens to another location. The owners let the chickens go free and now the "gypsy chickens" roam the island.

A simple carving make of wood repurposed from a carving board. The chicken was scaled and printed from the file above. I used multi surface paints which worked well on both wood and the resin print. Finally I finished off the slide by labeling the slide using water slide paper

Slide of the Month: Rotating gear cubes

 

March 2026

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: .5 hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane

3D file: 3 Cube Gears by BB8blazer






March brings a good many Merit Badge Universities and one of my favorite classes to sit in on is the Engineering.  Along these lines, I fascinated by gears that oddly work together in unexpected ways and this is one of those times. The corners of the cube turn together in different rotating in ways to form shapes.

I printed three of these cubes (red, white and blue filament) using the FDM printer and mixed the parts to assemble these cubes. The loops are connected to the center piece allowing the cube still to function

Slide of the Month: Mayan Scream Whistle

February 2026

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 3 hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane

3D file: Maya Deat* Whistle (Easy Print, Very Loud) by Tacblades

Note: the name has been changed with google in mind (If you know you know)




It's dark and cold ... there an eerie sound in the distant. Is it a scream? Is it a wail of a wild animal? No it's a Mayan scream whistle. I got to admit I never heard of one before I saw one on an episode of Tracker and yes I've never seen Ghostbuster Afterlife which also mentions it.

I first printed this on a resin printer which required a lot of supports to print. That was a big mistake because I couldn't effectively remove the supports from inside the chambers. Once I cured the print, it became a paperweight as I could not blow into it. To the FDM printer next and within a few hours I had a working whistle. Next I gave it a black wash, with multi surface hobby paint, to bring out the detail. I added some loops to the back to finish off this slide.

Slide of the Month: Vacation Slide

  January 2026

  Time to make: 3 hours

  Finishing: 1 hour

  Original design:  Bill Macfarlane

So ever wonder what a carver like me does on vacation. Well there's nothing like sitting out in front of our room with my wife in the early morning enjoying my tea and letting the wood guide me. Incredibly relaxing.

This will be the first in a series of Vacation slides. Now I'd love to say this slide was influence by the surroundings but in truth it's based on a planter (maybe its a cup?) I saw somewhere.

Carved from basswood I brought with me and sanded. When I got home, I finished it off with some golden shellac.   

Slide of the Month: Shell cutaway

 

December 2025

Time to make: .5 hours

Finishing: none

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane








While on vacation I happened to see this shell in a souvenir show and it reminded me of a Christmas ornament.  Drilled a couple of holes in the back and glued a wire loop in the back 

Slide of the Month: Colman Stove - white gas

November 2025

Time to make: 3 hours

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

3D files: 1:8 scale camp

stove like coleman - BlackCrow (RockyTop)

Cast Iron Skillet - SirAngusSteele

Coffee Pot - freddymills59 (with some editing by Bill Macfarlane)

Ah the weather is turning chilly and my mind goes back to early in my Scouting career when the adults cooked on Coleman white gas stoves. The smell of the coffee and bacon while we were boiling water for instant oatmeal.

Ok this slide will took some work but I'm pleased with the results. The stove requires a few prints with different color filaments (green, grey, and silver) and assembled using 3 mm screws . The skillet was printed with black filament and bacon/eggs were painted with paint pens. I found the right type of coffee pot file but it was made as a drawer handle. I imported into Thinkercad and modified it for this project then painted it with multi surface paint. Using super glue, the components were glued together with a 3d printed loop. 

Slide of the Month: Spider

October 2025

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

 

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane

3D print file: Spider by IogSotot

"Creeper, crawler!

Creeper, crawler!

Did ya ever see such a sight?

Creeper, crawler!

Creeper, crawler!

I wonder if he’ll bite!..."

It's funny how "Creeper Crawler" by The Rolling Headstones come to mind with this slide. Some how the thoughts of a large spider creeping up the neckerchief turned into an idea for a slide just in time for Halloween. 

Printed on a 3D resin printer using the file listed above. I painted the slide using multi surface hobby paints and used a dry brush technique to paint the skull. I used the drain holes in the back to glue in a coat hanger loop. 

Slide of the Month: "Gillman"

September 2025

Time to make: 3 hours

Soaking: 2 days

Finishing: none
 
Original design:  Mr. Gillman

One night at a Scout meeting I noticed a Scout wearing a similar neckerchief slide. "Did you make it" I asked. The Scout explained that his father made it when he was a Scout. I grabbed my notebook and sketched the design for making when I had the chance. Well many years passed and recently I came upon the sketch I made. So here's to you Mr. Gillman for a great design.

Made from bamboo this slide was harder to make than I thought it would be  as I kept breaking off the horns. (Lucky for me, I had a lot of bamboo.) Frustrated, I ended up soaking a piece in wood hardener for a couple of days. The good news was the bamboo was not as fragile but it also made it harder to carve.

A bit of sanding and the slide was finished

Slide of the Month Extra: Philmont Segmented Peaks

 

July 2025

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: none

 
Original design:  Philmont/Bill Macfarlane







I love trying to bring Philmont themes to something unexpected. When I saw the Philmont Peaks Segment Patch I knew there had to be a way not only to make the slide but to also to make it modular so I could add my own segments for my time at Philmont.

Working with Tinkercad I laid out a 6 segment circle with an inner circle then 3D printed the parts.  Next I printed out the patch (and a few extra locations) on some presentation paper, cut them out, and glued them to the segments using contact cement.  I then designed a thin base, 3D printed it and super glued small magnets into the holes I had made in the base. Lastly I used some thin metal tape (made for use with magnets) to mount to the backs of the segments.

The final build is simple as the segments stick to the baseplate and are easily changed. In fact this is so easy I got a couple of other designs that will be coming soon.

Slide of the Month Extra: Leather stamping-Bear Paw

 

May 2025

Time to print: 1 hour

Time to make: .5 hours

Finishing: .5

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane

Initial 3D print: Viking Bear Paw by Kenny Reniff

veg 

A friend of mine and fellow Wood Badge patrol member was complaining why I wasn't doing more Bear slides. (Yes I'm a good ole Bear.) So Ron, this one is for us. 

The bear paw here has four claws and represents the four of us in the Bear patrol who had a great time at NE-II-192 Wood Badge.  

The process of creating this slide uses a piece of tooling "veg tan" leather, a 3D printed stamp, and a method of pressing the stamp into the leather. I started by editing the Viking Bear Paw in Tinkercad to add the letters to the final stamp. 

After 3D printing the stamp, I cut a piece of leather to size based on the size of the stamp. I dampened the leather, placed the stamp on the leather, and squeezed the two of them together. Now there are many methods to do this like an arbor press, H-frame press, or C-clamp (G-clamp) home made press I found on the Scout Woggles Facebook page by Julian Ashcroft. After letting the leather dry, I treated the leather with Fiebing's Tan Vintage Gel and polished the leather with a soft cloth. Lastly, I stitched the ends together with waxed string to form a loop. 

This was a very cool method and I'll probably be making more leather slides in the future.

Slide of the Month Extra: Chicken Jockey!

April 2025

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 2 hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane

3D file: Peter Farell - Chicken Jockey : Minecraft the Movie

Chicken Jockey! (...and the crowd goes wild!)

I couldn't resist making this slide after seeing this phenomenon and after all it's just fun. While I really wasn't interested Minecraft, my son played it right up into college.

Printed on a 3D printer with white PLA filament, based on the file above, I peeled away the base to give me the start of slide. Next i filled void on the bottom chicken's feet with super glue gel and left it to dry. I painted the slide with multi surface hobby paint. Lastly t drilled a couple of holes in the back for a coat hanger loop. Neat slide!

Slide of the Month Extra: Angry

 

April 2025

Time to make: 1 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane








It's April and as the snow disappears I find black walnut shells left by the squirrels in my yard. The odd part is I don't have any black walnut trees in or around my yard. I saw this half shell and it looks like an angry creature in the forbidden woods. 

The split in the shell was a natural mouth so I painted it red. I also added a couple beady eyes using a couple of quilting pins. I also filled the back to the shell with some 5 minute epoxy to keep the shells from falling apart and to give me something to mount the ring for the neckerchief 

Slide of the Month: Untitled

 

April 2025

Time to make: still working it

Finishing: when I get around to it

 
Original design:  Bill Macfarlane








OK, just a few more minutes, hours, days till this one is finished....What was I carving? 

Once again just my odd sense of humor here on the first of April. Somewhat carved from maple. Kind of painted from hobby paints. Labeled using waterslide paper and sealed with a couple of coats of ... well haven't gotten to that step yet.

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 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