It was a challenge that local woodworker Rodney Miller thought would last six months. Now almost 15 months later, the corkscrew slide being custom built is almost completed.
Miller, 47, owner of Wood Innovations, learned that Carmel resident Scott Jones wanted a wooden slide constructed to place inside his house from Fred Fuller, owner of Cashand Carry Lumber in Daleville.
"I always wanted to build a slide out of wood," said Miller. "I took a portfolio of my work of constructing curved staircases using a boat-building technique."
The contracts for the project were signed in December 1999, with the first materials ordered in January.
Miller said about three years ago, Jones had a design for the indoor slide and received three bids on the work. The bids were too high and the design wasn't to Jones' liking.
"I got home that night and couldn't sleep," said Miller. "I designed it in my head overnight. It was like watching a video."
The corkscrew slide is over 16 feet tall and has a 13-foot drop. The middle of the slide is 30 feet in length. It was constructed using a cold molding technique that allows the epoxy to be shaped into a form.
"I guessed at how long it would take to build," said Miller. "It just means I'm not making near as much on it as I would have liked, but it paid the bills."
The project required Miller to utilize all the resourcefulness he could muster in completing the project, which will be transported from Anderson to Carmel Saturday.
"I originally started working on it while it was mounted on an axle so I could turn it at floor level" he said. "Eventually I had to add onto my garage so I could work on it while it was standing up to set the stair treads accurately."
Included in the corkscrew slide are 2,600 square feet of Brazilian mahogany, 750 board feet of Honduran mahogany and 30 gallons of epoxy; and the work required the installation of 40,000 staples with 36,000 having to be removed.
Miller said Jones wanted the slide just for fun and something for his kids to play on.
"I wanted the experience to do it right from the beginning," he said. "There was a lot of work and stress, but I learned a lot."
Once installed, the slide will include fiber-optic lights that can change colors eight times to illuminate the stairs placed alongside the slide.