Anyone got any ideas for construction of same? What's the best slidey stuff to line the chute with? I've been tasked with this and pressure is rising.
I have a steep grass bank to build it on so that won't be a problem.
Bill
Big vinyl groundsheet and a running hosepipe. Okay, not the driest slide around but a lot of fun and doesn't take up much storage space when the grandchildren go home.
Tim
Concrete pipes cut in half and vinyl flooring glued on.
How about some raised decking and
polished stainless steel is probably fairly slidey but not too slidey.
Or you could try some of the stuff used for dry ski slopes - some form of nylon?
Owain
All the indoor "playframe" places seem to use plastic - albeit the angles are quite steep.
You can buy the slide component (sold by people who sell outdoor climbing frame and wallclimbing components).
Or were you looking for really cheap - in which case, as someone else said, bit of smooth vinyl.
Beaten aluminium is a good surface. slick, polishes up and wont corrode.
Cheaper than stainless.
could glass/epoxy it up too.
But bare wood=bum splinters.
Brass sheet is traditional.
I recall my favourite "slide" in a playground. It had a cast iron superstructure/steps, an oak shelter at the top, and brass chute surface. It was prominently cast with the maker's name (which I can't remember) but it was molished in Kettering.
Must've been 30' high.
Hey - this was some 55 years ago... :-)
Probably Wicksteed then ...
That's it - thanks!
These days its the safety aspects one needs to be aware of, particularly if other peoples children get invited over, then sue when a toe nail gets ripped off or something, the parent sue not the child, but that can't be far off as lawyers for Children looks like a valid sales opportunity.
Brian
Unfortunately, in the UK, the weather is rarely suitable for such slides.
With a dry slide, regardless of how slidey the surface of the chute is, the main problem is that heels of shoes, and sweaty legs and bums stick to it. Maybe take a tip from the fairground helter-skelter - keep a stock cheap mats for the sliders to sit on.
likewise, but without the shelter. The height gave a different view of the surroundings and a little feeling of danger that is missed by children restricted to a laid down a slope one ,and rightly or wrongly the nervous were usually assisted by a shove by other children. Mother would sometimes bring along a duster and some brasso so you could really get the surface slippy. Pikeys would have the brass away in an instant now. Have noticed that some playgrounds are getting interesting things like aerial zip wires so at least some children can play without being wrapped in cotton wool. Bearing in mind the O P's profession he could probably knock one of them up easily from bits out of the van.
G.Harman
The one I fondly remember at boarding school in 1961 was just like that. I don't remember the Kettering name, but the last few feet of the chute ran horizontally with no side-walls.
I got some stainless steel rope and made a zip-line on my bit of slope.
Oh, that reminds me of old wooden ones, where most of the skin would have gone off your elbows by the time you got to the bottom - and woe betide any poor sod who came off the mat part-way down! :-)
cheers
Jules
Tell me about it. The scars on my hand have only just (almost) faded from an incident of that kind on the helter skelter at Chessington Zoo over 50 years ago. Was going down it with my dad and he managed to jam my hand (and his arm) against the side...
My ancestor made his living from a zip rope. It was called Moses Clifford's Alpine Glide.
Bill
I was going to say that
I wonder if Matty could set one up?
Chris
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