Slide of the Month Extra - School Spirit

June/July 2019

Time to make: None (This is a no brainer)

Original Design: Bill Macfarlane(ish)

So a funny thing happened when I went to post this month's extra slide, I realized last month's never got published so this is a two for one month and it involves school spirit in the form of mascots.

My son recently graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology which is an excellent University; majors like Engineering, Computer Science, Digital Media and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf to name a few. (Hey who knew Packaging Science was a degree one could earn.) They also have a D1 hockey team with amazing fans (Yes, I'm looking at you Corner Crew). You see their mascot's image RITchie all over campus. But pay no mind to the "new" (smiling) mascot (whose unofficial's nickname is Tony duh tiger)  as no one likes him and we are convinced the stole the dots out of RIT.

My daughter goes to Champlain College which, while smaller, gives my daughter the chance to excel and follow her own path. Currently, a double major (and maybe a minor too?) with a specialization to boot. That's a lot of work but I'm so proud of her for making it her own. From International Business to Game Design there is a lot going on there. Also of note, the college's sports teams remain undefeated at home (inside joke).  The college's mascot is Chauncey T. Beaver. (Hey Woodbadge beavers, you can get him here.)

Ok, these slides couldn't have been easier to make. Both of these were key chains and I simply removed the key chain part. Each has a velcro sweater on that has some give to it so the neckerchief passes between the sweater and the mascot. Easy peasy

Slide of the Month - Comic Neckerchief Slide

July 2019

Time to make: .5 hours

Finishing: at .25 hour

Boy's Life - May 1999

Design: Jeff Piasky








Need a slide in a hurry? Got some comics and glue? Well you can quickly make slide by taking a strip from the comic pages spreading some glue and rolling it into a tube.

 To make this slide I wanted to use some of the most iconic comics from my childhood - Bazooka bubble gum's Bazooka Joe. (Must resist breaking into camp song.) But as had as I tried to find some of that jaw busting little rectangles of hard bubble gum, I could not seem to find it anywhere around me. Enter a Google search only to find Bazooka discontinued the comics back in November of 2012. (Dumb marketing move in my opinion.) So another Google search let me find an Bazooka Joe strip from the past that I printed with a color printer. I cut a strip longer than the comic and used rubber cement to glue the tube together.

And just for giggles here is what the strip says...

  Bazooka Joe:   I ordered Apple waiter. This looks like Peach!
  Waiter:   What does it taste like?
  Bazooka Joe:  I'm not sure.
  Waiter:   Then what difference does it make?

Slide of the month - Prospectors Poke

June 2019

Time to make: 2 hours

Boys Life "Slide of the Month"

Mar. 1965, page 70

Original design: William Poese






I quite enjoyed making this slide because it brings together an old Scout skill (which I was never very good at as a Scout) and the pleasure of crafting a slide. Making a fire with flint and steel is a bit of a lost art but you can see a good video here or here.

So lets start with the steel striker. The striker here is made from an old file I had around which I but in a vice and broke if off into smaller pieces. Using a grinder, I rounded the corners and ground one of the side edges smooth.  The "flint" is a couple of different stones starting with a piece of agate and then a piece of flint from Florida. I have tried quartz and "Johnny stone", (not shown), but I can produce more sparks with flint or agate. Also shown is some char cloth I made and you can see some instruction on making it from old cotton scraps here and some better ones from cotton rounds here

The bag is made from some spare leather I had around and the cord/bead make up the drawstring. 

Slide of the Month Extra - New Shepard

 May 2019

Time to carve: 1 hour

Finishing: .5 hour

Thingiverse June 16, 2017

Design: chemteacher628

Try it yourself  (I only printed the capsule)




The New Shepard capsule is a 6 person craft being built by Blue Origin (owned by Amazon's Jeff Bezos and businessman Rob Meyerson). It is named for the first American in space Alan Shepard. If all goes well, the first manned mission of New Shepard will be in 2019.

Another easy print and the body was spray painted with white primer. The painted details were done with a paint pen and the lettering with water slide paint.

Slide of the month - Wood Canteen

April 2019

Time to carve: 2 hours

Finishing:  1.5 hour

Boy's Life - August 1975

Design: Wayne Mason

I do apologize that I don't have great pictures of this slide so here is one with and without a flash.

Coming off making the wooden bucket slide, I knew I wanted to use Oak so the grain would make the canteen look weathered. Lots of v-cuts in this slide! The spout is made from an un-crimped pop rivet and some UV glue (to keep the chain in place). The chain is from a cheep jewelry necklace and it is anchored on the other side with a wire loop. Two additional loops are in place for the leather strap.  The wire bands (not shown) are beading wire. The wood is stained with dark walnut and the metal pieces are painted with a black paint pen. The only metal not painted black was the chain since it was an antique brass already. U.S was also painted on the canteen with the black paint pen. Poly seals the canteen. The shoulder strap is made from a scrap golf glove of really thin leather.

Slide of the Month Extra - Circuit board slide

April 2019

Time to make: 1 hours

Original design: Bill Macfarlane













Something a little different. I was cleaning out some old electronics I came across a circuit board the was interesting so why not make it into a slide.  I carefully cut around the area I wanted to use, sanded the edges and then glued the board to a piece of 3/4 inch plastic pipe. Maybe next time I'll make a working circuit board with a crystal radio or randomly blinking light or something else. Where's my soldering iron....

Slide of the month - Acorn

 April 2019

Time to carve: 2 hours

Finishing:  1.5 hour

Boy's Life - January 1987

Design: Bill Fleming








It's funny to me how many of these bloody things I rake up in the fall only to find more in the spring. Did the squirrels remember where they buried these things?

 I seem to remember eating a survival stew made of acorns and some meat in Wilderness Survival Merit Badge. I know the acorn were boiled several times to remove the tannins (which will make you sick). I've heard that once the tannins are remove, the acorns can also be roasted and eaten or ground into a flour to make a kind of bread but I have never tried that.

Carved from maple and painted with craft paints. Its finished off with a couple of coats of poly.