Sunday Slide

End Jan 2010

Time to carve: 2 hours
Finishing:1 hour


With next week being Scout Sunday, I thought I would make something to wear especially for this occasion. Starting with a scrap of pine I glued the pattern on and fired up the scroll saw to cut out the outline. Taking my time, I carefully cut the groves that make the rays all around the slide. When I finished I pealed away the paper that was left on the slide (mostly where the cross is to go). I decided it was a good time to sand before starting the cross which turned out to be a good idea because I could not have done it after. I have some scrap black walnut that came from my father-in-law's family farm over a hundred years ago. I took another copy of the pattern (just the cross parts) and glued it to the black walnut. Off to the scroll saw again to cut out the parts, sand, and then glue to the slide. A bit of adjustment and the cross fit perfectly. Normally at this point I would use a water based Polly because it drys perfectly clear but in this case I wanted a bit of color. The oil based Polly adds just a slight golden color giving the wood depth.

Pueblo Indian Pottery

Mid Jan. 2010

Time to carve: 1.5 hours
Finishing: 2 hours




It's been a very long week at work and this is the third slide I've carved. (Late to bed and early to rise make it so you can't open your eyes-unknown.) There is really something that speaks to me with this slide...so simple yet so hard to shape it correctly. If that wasn't tough enough, then there comes the detail on the pottery. Carved from pine with lots of sanding to get it ready for painting. Finding the right color for the pot was quick, since I had a good color on hand, and the detail was done using a fine line paint pen. (Steady hands help too!) A couple of coats to Poly finish this off.

Surfboard

Plaque Slides

Mid Jan. 2010

Time to Carve: 0 hours
Finishing: 2 Hours

Really there was no carving involved in these two slides. Now normally I like to spend time carving because it relaxes me but this project was all scroll saw, sandpaper, and paint. (Well, I guess I still got some satisfaction from these slides.) The main body of the slides are made from pine and the raised Scout emblem was cut from a thin strip of poplar. Painted with craft paints and finished off with a couple of coats of poly.

Pirate Cannon

Mid Jan. 2010

Time to carve: 1.5 hours
Finishing: 1.5 hours


Another fun slide to make!. The cannon is made from a 5/8 inch dowel, as is the wheels, and the case of the cannon is from scrap poplar. The cross piece, that swivels under the brass fittings, is a 1/8 dowel glued in place from the hole drilled through the cannon. Painted with craft paints and finished off with a couple of coats of poly. The hardest part I had with this slide was trying to take a picture of the slide as it would look to another person when you are wearing it. This proved to be impossible so I have moved the slide to show the details.

Little Stinker

Mid Jan. 2010


Time to carve 1.5 hours

Finishing 2 hours

The name fits this slide in so many ways but more on that latter. The body, made from poplar, of this slide was an easy carve but the head called for a chestnut. Hmmm...fresh out of chestnuts here but I could carve a suitable replacement (and I wouldn't have to glue on the ears). Now the textured "fur" presented a bit of a problem. The pattern called for coffee grounds to be glued onto the body. But where to get coffee grounds since no one in this household drinks coffee. Well, I happened to be out with my son to an archery event and they had coffee made for the adults. Now it must have seemed like a weird request when I asked for the used coffee grounds but I left after the event with a plastic baggie full of warm grounds. Bringing them home, I spread the grounds on a few paper towels and waited for them to dry. Man the smell of coffee permeated our house for a couple of days before the ground were completely dry. Even gluing them to the slide reactivated the smell of coffee and was making us all sick of the smell. It wasn’t until I painted the slide with black spray paint (or maybe after the poly) that we finally lost the smell of the grounds.

Lincoln Log Cabin

Early Jan. 2010

Time to carve: 2 hours
Finishing 2 hours

After making the block house, I was happy to see this log cabin had notched logs like I would have expected. Pine forms the base to glue the pieces and I used simple wood glue. Made from 1/8 inch dowels there is about 4 and 1/2 feet of dowel in this slide. It has a real cedar roof (made from the ends of some cedar shims I had laying around) and the chimney was painted to simulate the stones. The window was made by painting the opening and using tooth picks for the frame. A couple of coats of Poly finish this off.