Vintage Sled Restoration for Holiday Decor by Fixing Furniture

[@ellisc.foleyjr9778]

Great restoration Scott, I'm 81 yrs old and I had a "Speed Arrow" (made by Flexable Flyer I think) that was back in the late 40's Also had a wood toboggen. I remember the 1st time I went down the hill on that I got a face full of snow. so after that I put my faithfull dog Rusty (big shepard on the seat in front of me and he got the face full of snow. Hey! he loved it!. thanks for sharing. ECF.

[@FixingFurniture]

That's a great story. Thanks for sharing!

[@DeWittPotts]

I grew up in Upstate NY. Today I live about 50 miles north of where I grew up. Back in 1969 I was given a Flexible Flyer sled as a Christmas present. I still have it today. Mine is in very good shape as it was always stored in either the barn where I grew up or in my garage. The wood on my sleigh is in excellent condition and the metal only has some very minor surface rust except for the bottom of the runners which has a good layer of rust as it was bare metal from use. Back in the late 60's and early 70's we had much more snow than we have today. I lived at the top of a fairly large hill. My friends and I would start by taking an old toboggan and make a path in the deep powdery snow. This would then freeze overnight and we would be left with a hard packed snow course that was similar to a luge run. Almost every day after school we would be riding our sleighs on this run. We have not had snow like that in my area in a very many years. These days we mostly get 'slush' storms where we get 1 to 3 inches of verry wet heavy snow that is full of water.

[@bryanquick3349]

I used to use my grandfather's flexible flyer sled as a kid, it worked great even after crashing into trees :P it's in a bit poor shape these days, but this gives me hope to fix it up!

[@FixingFurniture]

Thanks for sharing your memories. Those sound like some great times.

[@ele97735]

Great job on the sleigh. I love the way you see the word decals. I live in Texas and we pronounce it more like “deecals”. I watch some Canadian car builders too, and I love to listen to them talk. If you could hear my Texas draw you and make comments about the way I talk too! Lol

[@mousemade1]

Hi Scott, thanks for this (and all the videos you post). A suggestion if I may re rivetting. If you start with the ball pein you will find it easier to get the mushroom growing because of smaller contact area. Finish with the big face or, ideally, with a solid punch with a concave end which will give a nice smooth finish to the mushroom. Keep up the great work!

[@FixingFurniture]

I appreciate the suggestion, that sounds like a good technique! I will try that next time. Thank you!

[@jerrys9226]

Nice restoration! I’ve never seen wide runners like that.

[@richardbrobeck2384]

Nice restoration I have radioflyer that is about the same age as that sled !

[@SparrowStockwell]

That’s a charming door decoration!

[@maggieg8200]

Beautiful job! Thanks for sharing!❄

[@FixingFurniture]

Thanks! I’m glad you liked it.

[@drusillawinters212]

Thanks for the memories. I lived near a wooded hillside as a child. We would race our Flexible Flyers down the hill steering to miss the trees. At the bottom where the woods met the street, we built a ramp out of snow. We would fly off the ramp. The challenge was to see how far beyond the ramp we could go. The furthest possible was where the plowed street stopped the sled.

[@superdave1949]

Great video! This Texas boy learned way more about sleds than he knew before and gives me a greater appreciation of the engineering that went into these.

[@outbackjack50]

look's awesome nice job👍

[@FixingFurniture]

Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad you like it!

[@MsRmaclaren]

It took me a while to figure out what a "dehcul" was. I call them "deecahl". :)

[@terrmaso]

Love the restoration! Had one similar growing up as a kid in Colorado. Needless to say, it had plenty of use from me. Had a larger version I wanted to restore, but too many moves made me eventually let it go. Hoping to find another one to show some love.

[@e.jameszettlemoyer3819]

Great Video. I have 6 or 7 American Flyer sleds that I was wondering the best way to restore. You have motivated me.

[@FixingFurniture]

That's awesome! I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun doing those!

[@Brian-Burke]

Great job, Scott. I can totally relate to putting the decals on backward. I personally make tons of little mistakes and if I don't go slow, it's even worse. Have a great weekend.

[@FixingFurniture]

Thanks, mistakes happen sometimes when I'm recording video... setting the camera, the lighting, it's a slight distraction.

[@sebrandt1]

Great restoration! My only suggestion is to be certain the vinyl is strongly adhered to the wood. I recommend going over the vinyl with a 1" (25mm) wallpaper seam roller with strong pressure. Any weather than can get between the vinyl and wood will interfere with the glue, leaving the vinyl looking ragged.

[@FixingFurniture]

That's a great point, I will definitely keep that in mind.

[@aurelian6313]

Watching from Vancouver. I had one of these sleds growing up in Victoria, B.C. Victoria sees little snow, but I do remember going down a hill on the sled at least once.

[@pitsnipe5559]

Nice restoration. Hope we can a picture of the decorated porch.

[@pattylevasseur4041]

wow great job of restoration scott !!! i had 1 growing up but never used it..i had a plastic orange sled that i used all the time that thing could seriously go!!! i even had a saucer type too but it was soo dented it just couldnt go...

[@crowznest438]

Having grown up with that kind of sled, when they were replaced with the plastic ones, I went looking for some old ones for the grands. One fun thing was to lie down and make a train with the longer versions by putting one's feet into the slots of the sled behind.

[@FixingFurniture]

Oh, that sounds fun! Thanks for sharing that!

[@gregorycameron8377]

I've never heard "decal" pronounced "deckle" lol. Keep up the great work!

[@karinapfel650]

Its a Canadian thing. Decal has as many correct pronunciations as pecan.😊

[@crowznest438]

@@karinapfel650 Love that comparison; you are sure right about 'pecan'.

[@FixingFurniture]

It’s one of those funny words in the English language

[@gregorycameron8377]

@FixingFurniture hahaha that's good stuff! Yall talk strange but you have a great attention to detail in your repairs! Thanks for the content!

[@joelsilver7199]

Nice work Scott looks great.

[@nannettenannettek9545]

You did a great job, as usual. I would like it even more if the red of the decal and the red on the metal matched.

[@FixingFurniture]

Yes, me as well. Unfortunately, vinyl and spray paint don't have many colour options.

[@Pete.Ty1]

👍👍👍. Thank you Scott

[@alpetterson9452]

Thanks for the video FF. Citizen Kane-tastic!

[@FixingFurniture]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@RobertLivingstone-n4g]

nice job scott

[@billbucktube]

Interesting on how to age the hardware!

[@claudemathieu9581]

very interesting!👍

[@DavidWhite]

I think I would have used Titebond III it is waterproof and a lot stronger than the poly glue Like you referred to. Epoxy would have been better. I guess it is okay as it is going to be a decoration and strength is not required. Great video Scott I had a Flexible Flyer when I was a kid

[@FixingFurniture]

I'm glad you enjoyed the video and I appreciate the suggestions.

[@cathybenson5119]

I've never been on a sled because we don't get snow here in Nth Queensland Australia. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas n a Happy New Year. Take care n have a good one.🎄🎄🎄🛷🛷

[@FixingFurniture]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too! 🎄🛷

[@167curly]

Great restoration on that Canadian-made sled, Scott. The decals' copies are a nice touch. Maybe some Loctite on those long bolts instead of rivets will keep them tight? 👍

[@FixingFurniture]

Thanks for the suggestion. That’s a good idea!

[@herbhedeen8855]

It’s all downhill from here!

[@FixingFurniture]

Lol, thanks for the chuckle - love it! Scott

[@raycimbalnik5159]

I have a very old dresser that I'd like to have restored one day. There just isn't anyone in my area that I feel could do it properly.

[@Grishanof]

Hi Scott! A bit surprized that you didn't paint the front piece, i was under impression that it just rusted more than other red parts. What kind of rust remover do you use? And if it's our old friend EvapoRust, have you had the chance to try BackyardBallistics' brew? His solution even saved some of the bluing that was left on metal and was pretty cheap to make.

[@jill552]

👍🏻❤

[@fdort3971]

@FixingFurniture thanks for the lesson. It turned out nice. I tried to stop you before you added the sticker upside down but you couldn't hear me through the screen...bahaha. Me thinks I watch too much KZbin university...lol. In the past, when I worked with vinyl designs, my stupid hands would randomly twitch (carpal tunnel sucks...sigh). To realign, I found it helpful to warm it up with a hairdryer on low first. High setting or heat gun is too much.

[@FixingFurniture]

I appreciate the tip, I'll have to try that. Thank you!

[@fdort3971]

@FixingFurniture you are welcome! It's nice to help one of my favorite KZbin professors!

[@djvelasquez2643]

I never paint the metal because over time and outdoors it chips. So, I just blue coat it (blueing you can buy this at any hunting store or where they sell guns) and oil it. The other way in which it lasts longer on metal is to powdered coat it, but it will chip over a 25 year period.

[@manuelsoul1]

Ottimo lavoro Scott ma secondo me il manubrio è montato al contrario, saluti 👍👍👍👍👍👍👋👋👋

[@FixingFurniture]

Thank you. I just double checked the before and after photos, and the handle bar is the same direction. Good question. Scott

[@mjb12141963]

I have always wanted to ride one of these sleds but growing up in California, then in the Midwest where these type sleds are not allowed because the runners are dangerous.

[@guyfuller1369]

Please post the sled installed as a decoration.

[@joevano]

TIL that some Canadians say decal differently… and that there are 3 accepted pronunciations

[@FixingFurniture]

Didn't know that. Thanks for sharing. Scott

[@stephenmcgeown]

Fantastic restoration, Scott. I was wondering if you can apply polyurethane on top of the decals to protect them against the elements too, or would that cause different issues?

[@FixingFurniture]

That's a good question. I'm not sure how vinyl would react to a polyurethane finish or if the polyurethane would stick to the vinyl.

[@mdasmmeak]

Always love your videos! Please consider removing the music. It’s distracting.

[@petekelly9772]

I know this was for decoration, but if you ever wanted to use it, the wood repair should be glued with resorcinol glue. 60 years ago, as a kid I used to crash mine a lot and that was my Dad's go to glue and over the years, no joint failed. Today, I doubt i could get a small enough batch to use before it expired and I had to throw it away so maybe I'd settle for epoxy..

[@FixingFurniture]

Thanks for sharing that. I haven't heard of Resorcinol glue (aka resorcinol-formaldehyde glue). It sounds like it works for tight joints but not a gap filler, which epoxy also does as well. I now know a little more than I did before I read your comment. Thank you! Scott #tip

[@valsummers5330]

I don’t know the name of the sled My brother and I got it for Xmas in the early 1960’s My dad painted it silver with red runners I pulled it up the rope tow at our local hill It did steer a bit Not well enough to avoid much

[@R_Forde]

I enjoy your videos but I do have one gripe, the music.

[@leosenden6855]

Love the video and the work, but hate the music.

[@evenberg8499]

I doubt any commercial product of today legally would bear a name like "Speedliner". At least not a toy for children.

[@garykorzelius5930]

Its not a fine piece of furniture, just an old sled your putting on your door step in did one and it looked just fine without all the worry about if the wood matches and how old the rivets looked. Oh and its pronounced DEE CAL s not deckels canadians eh???

[@williamjackson5942]

And the English...it is their language too you know!

[@jamiemorgan4146]

Deckle ?????? LMAO 🤣 De- Cal .. Your stain color is a Bad Match… I’m guessing, that you were picked on in every school that you attended.

[@FixingFurniture]

Wow, what toxic commentary

[@williamjackson5942]

Deh kle is how it is pronounced in England and Canada, do try to be nicer....