Snowshoes!

[mattthemuppet2]

not much machining related here and I haven't finished my other projects, but the snow's not going to be around forever and some our East Coast buddies might appreciate this

my wife bought a 2nd hand pair of DIY snowshoes off CL a while back and I tried them out a couple of weekends ago in crazy deep snow. I couldn't figure what everyone was complaining about until I put them on my daughter and then I realised how awesome they are. Hence I need to make 3 more pairs!

bought 2x10ft of 3/4in PVC pipe (the thin walled stuff, should have bought sch40 pipe) and a 90deg elbow for each shoe.

Sophie measured out the halfway mark on each and cut them

We then packed them full of kitty litter (didn't want to buy a bag of sand just for this and our kittens $hit like it's going out of fashion) and plug the end

Then she helped me bend them with the heat gun. First one didn't come out so well, but we learned and the following 3 were much better. We used the treadmill flywheel for the round form and cut the end bend into a chunk of pine.

Glued the ends on with PVC cement


Now we need to cut out the middle bit using an old treadmill belt, then bolt it in place over the sides of the frame. We'll get to that this week sometime. Fun stuff!

 

[middle.road]

Watch the "old treadmill belt" I salvaged one a while back, didn't realize that it was like a steel belted tire only much finer.
Cut the palm of my hand. Kicker was I had one glove on but I grabbed the piece with the hand that was doing scissor duty.

 

[ch2co]

I always keep at least one pair of snowshoes in my car in the winter. Highly recommended safety equipment in places where the snow might get deep and help might miles away.

CHuck the grumpy old guy

 

[mattthemuppet2]

Good tip Dan, thanks. I didn't have any idea what it was made of, so this will make me extra cautious.

Good point Chuck, hadn't thought of that. I keep a box of kitty litter and a fold up shovel in there, might as well do the same with the snow shoes too!

 

[brino]

Hence I need to make 3 more pairs!

Hi Matt,

I have plans to build some traditional bent-wood ones for my family, but this looks like a decent project for Scouts.
For several years I co-led Cub Scout and Boy Scout troops. I was always looking for projects that produced something useful and also challenged the boys.
Officially I am retired from being a leader, however, I am busy cleaning up my shop as it's almost time to have them come out to build their Cub Cars and Scout Trucks.

I am watching this thread and am very interested to see how you finish them.

Thanks for posting!
-brino

 

[Ulma Doctor]

great idea Matt!

 

[f350ca]

Neat project Matt. Traditional snow shoes are woven with some material (hide, lacing, stainless wire), if you cover them with a solid belt you may end up with ski's. The lacing gives traction.

Greg

 

[Rob]

Interesting link on making them.

 

[David VanNorman]

Nice snowshoes. I could have used them this week.

 

[mattthemuppet2]

Hi Matt,

I have plans to build some traditional bent-wood ones for my family, but this looks like a decent project for Scouts.
For several years I co-led Cub Scout and Boy Scout troops. I was always looking for projects that produced something useful and also challenged the boys.
Officially I am retired from being a leader, however, I am busy cleaning up my shop as it's almost time to have them come out to build their Cub Cars and Scout Trucks.

I am watching this thread and am very interested to see how you finish them.

Thanks for posting!
-brino

funny you should say that brino, I was talking to our admin person and she said that her son had built PVC pipe snowshoes in Cub Scouts! This would be an awesome project, just use sand instead of kitty litter and go with the Sch40 pipe not the thin wall stuff. We'll get back to these this weekend as I'm busy making a temporary pulley for my lathe so i can rebush my spindle pulley

great idea Matt!

thanks!

Neat project Matt. Traditional snow shoes are woven with some material (hide, lacing, stainless wire), if you cover them with a solid belt you may end up with ski's. The lacing gives traction.

Greg

good point Greg, much appreciated. The DIY ones we bought and the commercial ones my friend has have bolted on paddles on the bottom, so I'm going to duplicate that. Plus I'll leave the through screws their original length, so that will provide a little more bite too.

Interesting link on making them.

very handy, thanks!

Nice snowshoes. I could have used them this week.

thanks, I'm feeling for you all on the East Coast. I used to live in central PA, so I would have been in it (if not as bad) if we'd still been there. Here it was 13C the day the storm hit you