Slide of the Month - The Fox

February 2023

Time to make: 2 hours

Boys Life "Slide of the Month"

Feb. 1998, page 59

Original design: Jeff Springer

"The secret of the fox 

Ancient mystery

Somewhere deep in the woods

I know you're hiding

What is your sound?

Will we ever know?

Will always be a mystery

What do you say?"

Carved from maple and painted with hobby paints. I really like the green eyes on this one. Finished with a couple of coats of Poly and a wooden loop glued to the back

Slide of the Month Extra - Woody's Sioux Chief

January 2023

Time to make: 52 years ( or 3 hours this time around)

Finishing: 1 hour

 
Original design:  Woody's "Make-your-own"









So it's my first (or was it the second) year at summer camp and the wonders of the trading post filled my heart with joy. There were patches, camping stuff, merit badge books and best of all materials for certain merit badges. I still have the foot stool I made in basketry! But try as I might, I could never could complete a Woody's "Make-Your-Own" neckerchief slide and this represents the first one I bought.  (Kudos to my buddy Mike Ryan who was able to make one.)

 

The price was 29 cents? Though I paid a dollar...

So if you can find these today they go from $20 to $50 dollars as collector items but oddly enough I went forward just using some bass wood and did my best to duplicate the side view. I really wanted to use the knife I also bought that summer (a grey plastic knife with interchangeable blades) but I'm afraid that is long gone. Anyway, using my favorite knife, I slowly cut our the profile. This is always where I make my mistakes at summer camp by trying to hurry and take to large of cuts ruining the slide. Once the profile was cut out, I took a pencil and drew out the lined across the front and other side. Next I began rounding the slide making sure to redraw the lines as needed to keep consistency. The details came next as the feathers, for example, took some time.  The one area I did not  spend time in was the face as I hate carving faces. I did a fair amount of sanding getting ready for painting with hobby paints. A couple coats of poly finished it off. 

Slide of the Month Extra - Philmont UTE Gulch

 
January 2023

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Philmont / Bill Macfarlane



When the Ute Park fire happened back in 2018, it is amazing the fire burned right up to the edge of the cabin.  The cabin survived, with the exception on one small corner, but due to the surrounding fire damage the commissary was moved to Cimarroncito.

Carved from southern (pallet) pine was an interesting to make because of the perspective of the building. Painted with hobby paints, lettered with waterslide paper, and sealed with a couple of coats of poly.

Slide of the Month- Basketball

 

January 2023

Time to make: 1 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

 

Boy's Life: Feb. 1978 p. 52

Original design:  Wayne Mason







January reminds me of days past when in high school gym class it was basketball time. The good glass hoops were raised and the practice hoops were lowered so I saw this time of hoop almost every day. 

Made from a thin piece of hobbyist plywood painted white. Ring of the hoop is made from a thing piece of wire and a couple of holes were drilled into the plywood to hold the wire. Before attaching the wires, I threaded some netting I recycled from a bag of vegetables (onions I think). The wires were then passed through the holes and one wire was bent 90 degrees upwards and the other 90 degrees downward. I then glued the wires to the back of the board. The "targeting" rectangle was done using waterslide paper. A couple of coats of poly finish it off   

Slide of the Month Extra - The Nutcracker

    

     Christmas day 2022

     Time to make: 3 hours

     Finishing: 1.5 hour

     Original design:  Bill Macfarlane













A long time ago (last Friday to be exact), I thought I might like to try making a nutcracker slide for the holiday season. After researching learning how to make a working nutcracker in a size I could use for a neckerchief slide, I realized this wasn't that different from making the joined monkey slide. 

Make from different sized dowels, I started with a large dowel and carved and hour glass shape for the body. I cut a slot in the body and began working on the working jaw mechanism. After figuring out where to drill the hole, I used a long nail to drill through the body into the jaw and out the other side of the body. The nail was purposely long enough to also mount the arms (made from smaller dowels). A small drop of super glue  to secure the arms to the nail and when I use the lever to close the jaw the arms also move.  Next using the same large dowel, I carved the head and the hat then using pins and glue secure them to the body.  Using a slightly larger dowel, I cut out the legs and made feet which I glued and pined to the legs. The legs were then glued and pined to the body. The hands were make from some flat beads and glued/ pinned to the arms. I painted the slide with hobby paints before gluing the hair to the chin and head.

Happy Holidays and I be back next year!

Slide of the Month Extra - Matchbox/Hotwheels

December 2022

Time to make:  1/2 hours

Finishing: 0 hours

Original design: Bill Macfarlane





When I was very young, Matchbox diecast cars and trucks were a mainstay with cars racing around and construction vehicles building roads in the sand box. A few years latter, it was a upstart company Hot Wheels cars racing down orange flexible tracks. A great number of years later, a collection of fire, rescue, and ambulance vehicles from many different companies in my collection. (OK, I have a few space ones too...)

The other day I happened to see this mini-sub and thought it might make for an interesting slide. I simply drilled a couple of holes into the back and crazy glued a wire loop into the holes. Quick, easy, and a good looking slide!

Slide of the Month -The Viking

December 2022

Time to make: 2 hours

Boys Life "Slide of the Month"

Aug. 1998, page 54

Original design: Jeff Springer












Now there are two thing that come to mind when I think of Vikings. The first is a great series from the History channel and the second a silly reference from Monty Python's Flying Circus. (spam, spam spam, spam...)

I like this slide as it is somewhat chip carving and somewhat finished. Carved from maple and painted with hobby paint. It is finished with a couple coats of poly and it has a coat hanger loop.