October is the time when we start putting away the hot tub and outdoor furniture. I’ve decorated the outdoors for Halloween and I am already thinking about November and December plans for the front door. For the past several years, I’ve been using an old sled from the basement that has weathered over time. We have two vintage Flexible Flyers as well as a small KinderSleigh. One of the vintage flyers has seen better days, so I chose it for the display. (Note: Post is in progress – November 1, 2024).
This year, before using it, I thought of sanding, staining, painting, and giving it a good coat of polyurethane to make it last a few more years. It will not be in pristine or any antique condition that will wow aficionados, but plan to continue to use it for display.
Discoveries
I went down to the basement to get an idea for the sled rails and base color for the wood. When I looked at the back to determine its age, I saw that Flexible Flyers have patents and basic markings on the type. I initially thought it was Keith’s from the 1960s, but in the light, I saw a knife carving with his mom’s maiden name, Jean Carol Kresser, and the label “RACER” with a Patent D. It turns out it’s actually from the 1920s, so we guess it was her brother’s originally. Making the age around 100 years old. So cool! Here are a few pictures. It does look as though it gone through many repairs and unlike the other radio flyer it does not have the original hardware or rivets. The hardware pre-dates the 60s.
Flexible Flyer and basic design for Restoration
The color of the wood I decided should be a golden oak based on the under carriage, but I needed to know what colors to paint the rails. Went to Wikipedia and then did basic search on RACERs with a Patent D. I came across https://www.sledhill.com/yulerace.htm that had a sled with the colors from a collection. The pictured was good but small. The top of the sled should have had the eagle, arrow and the RACER lettering, but is long gone from the sled. Here is a picture of of what it should look like.
Cleaning up the Sled
My husband suggested using TSP to clean up the wood first and let it dry for a few days. I have done some restoration before and typically do a light sanding if the wood is in decent condition. The sled undercarriage is good shape, but the top looks like driftwood. The runners are in excellent shape for its age with a few minor rust spots at the very top that will be easy to address with a wire brush.
TSP is a good product and have used it on decks to cleanup the wood and what a good time to do it on a warm fall day.
Here is the sled after the TSP treatment and even though its not fully dry as you can see in these two pictures you can already see the beauty of the wood. On one of the boards I could see a faint outline of the pinstripe towards the edge. Also this sled had been repaired in the 70s with a grey epoxy on the top steering bar and two other places. I plan to use a wood-like filler to mask the grey so I can stain later.
Since the sled had been repaired a few times it certainly was well loved; used by Kresser-Gerhardt family for three generations and could even be used again even in its current condition. I even remember using it with my kids and in my best Massachusetts accent – it’s wicked fast!
So, on the the next steps. I tightened all the screws and used steel wool to brighten them up a bit. I did use one modern screw and will be searching for an older one, but I wanted to make sure it was sturdy for staining and painting.
Stay tuned for more…
ddd
Staining, Painting and Minor Repairs
I planned not to sand the sled due to the aged wood that is more fragile than I had hoped. Before staining, I opted for wood putty to fix a few of of the side slats and the handle bar. The handle bar has the most damage. I plan on putting a black accent similar to the photos of the time to hide some of the repair. I also am using water based oak stain and will be applying several coats to get close to a oak / ash look for the wood.
Red and Black for runners I chose a 4x metal spay paint.
More to come….
Bolts and Screws
Deirdre Gerhardt 