LAND SLIDE VICTORY

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 5:56 am

I've been trying different materials for a slide that would come down from the observation deck of my structure....I started with a 2x4" frame covered with 3/4" plywood, but it was monster heavy....Then tried a lightweight corkscrew slide with complicated skeleton- Finicky. Then wooden frame with tarp stretched over- Worked, but vulnerable to tearing and unfixable on-playa. Then blue barrels cut in half and bolted together- Worked, but a little snug and also a static electricity generator! Finally, I returned to the plywood-on-frame concept, lightening where possible and building in three transportable sections- SUCCESS. It's even covered with sheet aluminum. Shiny. Slidy. It leans on the side vertices of the dome, and is quite stable but weighs only sixty pounds or so. C'mon over to Hushville and give'er a try in 129 days.

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 7:15 am

I'm there, Dude!

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 7:46 am

Next plan is to create a way to use it for ACCESS as well as EGRESS....You can walk up the slide, but it's steep and probably impossible in socks.
I was considering maybe something like a rope ladder that lays over the slide and can then be moved aside for sliding. Or a counterweighted rope-and-pulley widget that acts like a ropetow. Thoughts?

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 7:49 am

Robo, I thought you were bringing a ladder?
I think the rope ladder lay-over has potential though.

Janka · Post by **Janka** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:35 am

When I was a kid, at one playground place there was a slide that had just a simple rope with knots at maybe 30-50 cm (hard to say, I've grown since ;), and you could just grab the rope from above the knots and kind of walk up the slide. With practice, you could even do it in socks, as the rope was hanging from a bit above the slide's top end, and you could hang to the rope and walk more or less perpendicular to the slide. With socks, you just went a bit more than perpendicular, parallel to the ground almost. The tricky bit comes at the up end of the slide, having friends there helps. ;)

I am probably explaining this really badly. And no, I do not think I could do it with just socks on (yes, thank you for that mental image) anymore. :)

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:45 am

You DEFINITELY don't want to go DOWN the slide in only socks! The aluminum gets hot just in Michigan sunshine- We'd be talkin' Griddlecakes out there! Yowtch!
The knotted rope is EXACTLY what I have up right now! It's fine for me, but I want something for people whose arms are loaded with gifts and Tasty Beverages so they can visit me more easily! I might install a dumbwaiter.....

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 11:20 am

When I was a kid my favorite thing to do at my gramma's house was to go up the steps and dangle a string with a strawberry basket at the end over the railing and ask for "goodies"!

Dumbwaiter=rope with a bucket

Janka · Post by **Janka** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 11:26 am

Yes, a rope with a basket seems like the traditional solution for treehouses. :)

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 11:42 am

Janka wrote:Yes, a rope with a basket seems like the traditional solution for treehouses.

MMMM..........treehouse!

Oh great! Now I want a treehouse!!

Janka · Post by **Janka** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 11:50 am

Sorry. ;) Don't mind, I want a sauna on the playa. Definitely not doing it this year, though. (The sauna itself is doable. It's the grey water that gives me a headache.)

Sorry, off-topic.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 12:45 pm

How about a Sauna Suit, like the suit Waterboy has but "dryer"? Maybe a portable steamer-unit connected to a Tyvek suit, like the portable aircon units that the Apollo astronauts carried around on the launchpad..... (Dang, this would've been cool for last year's theme!) You make the suit, and I'll provide a space helmet.......

MSky has inspired me for next year.....Ever been to the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse at Disney? It has probably been repurposed since I was there last, but I have fond memories of exploring that GIGANTIC fiberglass tree and treehouse complex.....A group could collaborate on building a tree like that for an entire small village, with all the tree metaphors incorporated....treehouse, some individual "sleeping nests", big tire swing, maybe some elves baking cookies......We'd have to pass out "forbidden fruit", too- If I can design a snake costume that's not too, ah, "constricting".....

sputnik · Post by **sputnik** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 12:47 pm

robotland wrote:You DEFINITELY don't want to go DOWN the slide in only socks! The aluminum gets hot just in Michigan sunshine- We'd be talkin' Griddlecakes out there! Yowtch!

Sounds like you need to bring some burlap sacks for naked folks to slide on.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 2:19 pm

Had a gal friend that grabed the side of the rolled edge on the slide. The uderside was sharp. Cut her little finger right off.

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 4:42 pm

OMG! were they able to reattach it? YOW!

Robo, how about a treehouse-like structure like the one in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome? That's what I'm talking about!

Janka · Post by **Janka** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 1:58 am

How about a Sauna Suit, like the suit Waterboy has but "dryer"? Maybe a portable steamer-unit connected to a Tyvek suit, like the portable aircon units that the Apollo astronauts carried around on the launchpad....

A cool idea, but no, I want a real Finnish sauna. We have been toying around with the idea with people around here, and we think that with some effort and a co-operating team in US (to get and transport materials we cannot fly over, etc), it should be possible to have a public sauna that we could run a couple of hours each day. We have been tentatively planning for 2006, but don't hold your breath.

dougaldutch · Post by **dougaldutch** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 5:23 am

Count me in, what a damn fine idea. So I figure I just follow the trail of friction burn victims till I find you then?

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 5:26 am

Martiansky wrote:OMG! were they able to reattach it? YOW!

That's a principal concern I had with the aluminum facing...I dressed it the best I could, and plan to tape the side seams. A cut should be HIGHLY unlikely.
Robo, how about a treehouse-like structure like the one in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome? That's what I'm talking about!

I could extend the Snowman another two domes or so, and cover it in burlap "bark"...

I 've wondered if the Thunderdome folks built a structure like Auntie Entity's when they first did their thing....I've seen pics of people on a zipline, but it looked as though they were coming from a scaffolding.

Mister Jellyfish Mister · Post by **Mister Jellyfish Mister** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 8:16 am

robotland wrote:Next plan is to create a way to use it for ACCESS as well as EGRESS....You can walk up the slide, but it's steep and probably impossible in socks.
I was considering maybe something like a rope ladder that lays over the slide and can then be moved aside for sliding. Or a counterweighted rope-and-pulley widget that acts like a ropetow. Thoughts?

Oh, please Robotland. You need not built it just so MiniMan can get up there, but I'm indeed touched.

I can't wait to visit your Snowman and I love the way you are so committed to safety and structural integrity. You get the "gives a shit" award for this month!

Mister Jellyfish Mister · Post by **Mister Jellyfish Mister** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 8:16 am

robotland wrote:Next plan is to create a way to use it for ACCESS as well as EGRESS....You can walk up the slide, but it's steep and probably impossible in socks.
I was considering maybe something like a rope ladder that lays over the slide and can then be moved aside for sliding. Or a counterweighted rope-and-pulley widget that acts like a ropetow. Thoughts?

Oh, please Robotland. You need not built it just so MiniMan can get up there, but I'm indeed touched.

I can't wait to visit your Snowman and I love the way you are so committed to safety and structural integrity. You get the "gives a shit" award for this month!

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 8:32 am

Janka wrote:
How about a Sauna Suit, like the suit Waterboy has but "dryer"? Maybe a portable steamer-unit connected to a Tyvek suit, like the portable aircon units that the Apollo astronauts carried around on the launchpad....
A cool idea, but no, I want a real Finnish sauna. We have been toying around with the idea with people around here, and we think that with some effort and a co-operating team in US (to get and transport materials we cannot fly over, etc), it should be possible to have a public sauna that we could run a couple of hours each day. We have been tentatively planning for 2006, but don't hold your breath.

I'm not sure of the details, but if you're having a plunge be sure that it will pass local health codes. The health department can (and will) shut you down.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 10:08 am

dougaldutch wrote:Count me in, what a damn fine idea. So I figure I just follow the trail of friction burn victims till I find you then?

...Just listen for the sound of bare buttocks on polished aluminum- Sucking air in rapidly at the very corner of your closed, moistened lips creates a rough facsimile.
(I will provide a polar fleece "slidey" for those who wish to descend in silence, and at greater speed...)

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 10:13 am

Old blankets would probably work too, Robo.
Maybe in between slides you can use it as a solar oven!!

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 10:13 am

[quote="Mister Jellyfish Mister]Oh, please Robotland. You need not built it just so MiniMan can get up there, but I'm indeed touched.

I can't wait to visit your Snowman and I love the way you are so committed to safety and structural integrity. You get the "gives a shit" award for this month![/quote]

Thank you! Contributing to someone's experience by crushing them, impaling them or dropping them to their doom seemed presumptuous. Besides, with an ever-growing heap of corpses around the Snowman it's only gonna get harder to get my bike out.

....I even went out on my lunch hour to get black-and-yellow hazard tape for the headbonk areas! Robotland Sez: "Safety CAN be pretty!"

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 10:16 am

robotland wrote: ....I even went out on my lunch hour to get black-and-yellow hazard tape for the headbonk areas! Robotland Sez: "Safety CAN be pretty!"

How about getting some rubber ducks and putting them where the headbonk areas are?

Get it? DUCK!!!

Ok, that was a bad joke!

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 11:02 am

Or signs like the ones on the canal bridges in the Bugs-Bunny-in-Venice cartoon.... "Ducka You Head....Lola Brigida".

Lassen Forge · Post by **Lassen Forge** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 11:08 am

The local hardware-selling Conglomerate store sells Burlap sacks in their cincrete department for cheap. Also If you know a coffee roaster they will usually let you have some (if you're really nice to them!!), and they usually have cool designs on them!

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 11:11 am

We Midwestern barbarians lack such luxuries....but I can bug the people at the coffee joint up the road. I just like SAYING "burlap".

"Burlap".

burlap.

Janka · Post by **Janka** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 11:13 am

I'm not sure of the details, but if you're having a plunge be sure that it will pass local health codes. The health department can (and will) shut you down.

What? Shut down a sauna? Why on Earth would they? It's just a hot room and a place to wash. Do they regulate showers or room/dome/tent temperatures in the US these days?

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 11:28 am

Anyone who can issue a citation'll be out there, including the health department.....crazy, huh? Proof that our little city's growing up!

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 12:02 pm

OK, I have to say it to since it is fun to say......

BURLAP