Slide of the Month Extra - Philmont 2016

February 2021

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Philmont / Bill Macfarlane

Days till Philmont 2022Countdown

 

I like the compass feeling of this slide and the fact it was probably the last time our council had a successful contingent go to Philmont. (2018 - Ute fire and 2020 Covid-19)

Carved from southern (pallet) pine, it was a challenge to whittle the levels of the compass while trying to keep the segments even. I painted it with hobby paints and used waterslide paper to create the scenes in each segment. A couple of coats of poly finish it off.  

Slide of the Month Extra Tutorial -Wire Coat Hanger Loops

 

Ode to the coat hanger. A staple in homes when I was growing up to hang clothes, to reach for that thing behind the couch, a toy fishing pole, large bubble wand and the ever popular "Oh crap, I locked my keys in the car. Now a days they are harder to find as the most folks have plastic coat hangers or really nice wooden ones. But all is not lost, look in the back of your closet for something you had dry cleaned or perhaps at your grandparents house. (Worst comes to worst, you can buy stiff wire from a home improvement store.)

When making Whittlin' Jim's slides, sometimes the slide called for a loop made from a coat hanger and I found these loops make a great alternative in places when the wooden loops just didn't work. Currently, wire loops make up about 10% of my slides but on with the tutorial...

 Using a pair of needle nose pliers I carefully unwind the coat hanger and cut a length for the loop. Then, using the pliers again, I can shape any style loop I want.

One thing to notice is how I finish the loops with a couple of ears at the end. These ears will fit into a couple of holes I drill into the slide I'm working on.

The nice part about the rings is even if the hole I drill don't exactly line up, the wires can be bent to fit the holes. To hole the loops in place I can use any kind of glue or epoxy that will stick to both the loop and the material I'm working with. Most often I use a super glue gel and an accelerant to harden the super glue. 

Bonus Tip: I've have a few kinds of accelerant from spray kinds to baking soda. The spray ones are great to flow into areas I cant reach. The down side is they can be pricey and the smell can be a bit offensive if you use a lot of it. Baking soda is cheap and gives the glue a bit more strength. It can sanded and it will even hole a screw. Best of all, no additional smell! Down side is if you put the baking soda in the area you want to fill first, the glue must fully penetrate it before hardens else you will have a cavity of dry material. 

Slide of the Month - Dental disaster

February 1, 2021

Time to make: 2 hours

Finishing: 1 hour 

Boy's Life Jul. 1983, p. 72 

Original design:  Fritz Hines 

So with Covid-19 still a thing, a lot of dentists in our area have decided to retire instead of instituting new equipment and safety procedures. The ripple effect of this is long waits to get an appointment with existing dentists (once they opened again). I have gone a little over a year trying to get a cleaning or exam. So this might be a good time to present to you the Dental disaster.

Carved from a large hunk of maple, the lips were formed with a rounding over method and a lot of sanding. The teeth took shape with simple v-cuts and the missing teeth were made by removing the wood from that area. A 3/4 inch hole was bored for the neckerchief to pass through. When it came to painting the slide with hobby paints, I wasn't particularly careful as I wanted to show ragged gums and tooth decay around the missing teeth. I didn't think of it till just now but I should have used a yellow wash over the teeth too. (Might have to go back and repaint it sometime down the road.) Anyway, a couple coats of poly finish it off.

Slide of the month tutorial - wooden loops

 And now for something completely  different...

(que Monty Python theme)

A friend and fellow whittler asked me about doing a brief discussion on the loops I use for my slides if I wanted to take a break from making slides. Well, I'm always whittlin, painting, or thinking about my next slides. There are times I might have 4 or 5 in process at any given time. But "it's a fair cop" and it is long over due that I should talk about the loops. (My thanks to Walt Whitman for suggesting this series and you should check out his amazing neckerchief slides too!)

Nearly 85% (figures made up on the spot) of my slides have wooden loops I make up ahead of time and stored haphazardly in a zip lock bag.  I most often use 1/2 inch poplar board  I can get from the big orange home supply store. Until recently, the size of the board was 2 and 1/2 inches wide and 3 or 4 feet long finished on all four sides. 

The black section yet to be cut out

Now this morning when I went to look for a piece to make some for this tutorial, it seems it is no longer carried. No matter, I just use a larger or smaller piece of this same kind of board and use one of the layouts I have at the end of this. The basic size of the loop is 1.25 in wide by 1.75 inches long and .5 inches thick. The sides are 3/8 of an inch which leaves a 3/4 inch  by 1 inch opening for the neckerchief. I normally have a template (made from thin cardboard like a cereal box) to draw the cut lines out on the board. Next I cut the lines using a bandsaw or scroll saw. Once I'm done cutting out loops, depending on how pressed I am for time, I will sand or carve the edges of the loop. (Admittedly, it doesn't always happen.) Before you know it, I have a large amount of loops ready for slides. To attach the loops I normally use a good quality wood glue and let the loop and slide dry overnight. One thing of note, it is best to keep the slide level during the gluing process. I've been known to stabilize the slide I'm working on using pieces of cardboard, folded paper or even other spare loops to keep the slide as level as I can.

Here are some patterns I'm going to try depending on what piece of poplar I can find next.

  (Each square is 1/8 of an inch)

DISCLAIMER: This is the way I do loops. It is not the only way to do them but simply the way I currently make them. (Subject to change on a whim, fancy or when the dang thing wont fit!)

Slide of the Month Extra - Smellable (Philmont - my gear)

January 2021

Time to make: 1 hour

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design: Bill Macfarlane

Days till Philmont 2022Countdown

 

Smellable?! By definition it is "That can be detected by smell." and if you are a bear (or even mini-bear) in the back county of Philmont you can always smell something tasty. Which brings me to the one water bottle I'll be carrying to mix my electrolyte fruit drinks in. No matter how many times it is washed, if it every had anything in it besides just water, it is considered a smellable and has to be hosted up with other food items in the bear bag.

Carved from southern (pallet) pine, this is a pretty fair representation of the water bottle I'll carry at Philmont right down to the drink spout top I added. Painted with hobby paints and given a couple of coats of poly to finish it off.

Slide of the Month Extra - Philmont Leadership Challenge

January 2021

Time to make: 1.5 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Philmont / Bill Macfarlane

Days till Philmont 2022Countdown

 

Taken from the Philmont Leadership Challenge Guidebook, "The Philmont Leadership Challenge is the ultimate training experience designed to motivate you to follow a life of servant leadership based on the values of Scouting!"   

Carved from southern (pallet) pine, I must admit, I took the easy way out on this slide. I had tried to make the Zia and PS with many different methods but always ended up with disastrous results. It seems the rays of the Zia are too close together for even a simple v-cut and a straight cut showed little detail which often also caused the wood to split. My only solution so far (I might revisit this slide in the future) was to carve the basic shape and use waterslide decals for the details. I matched the colors as closely as I could to the decals and gave it a couple of coats of poly to finish it off.

Slide of the Month- Pin Slide

January 2021

Time to make: 1.5 hours

Finishing: 1 hour 

Boy's Life: April 1994, page 61

Original design:  Jeff Springer

(With the apologies to the writers of MASH) ... Here's to the New Year 2021. May she be a damn sight better than the old one and may we all be able to leave home before it's over.

It has been a long hard year with Covid-19 and hopefully we are turning the corner as vaccines begin to make their way to the public. I wanted to take a moment to honor some of those folks on the front lines who are probably getting there shots right about now.

The other day, I found some pins of mine and knew I was going to do with them. I'm showing two different methods of creating this slide. The first, the Volunteer Fire Department pin, is mounted on a of black walnut with a coat hanger loop. I used a super glue to adhere the pin to the wood and for a different kind of finish.  The second, the Fire Department Paramedic pin, is made using a countertop sample with a leather loop pop riveted to it. The pin was epoxied in place and there was no finish necessary for this one.