ACME Rocket Plane Sled Restoration (I tried riding it down a hill)

The Acme Rocket Plane – “the sled with eye appeal”. Measuring 58 inches in length and weighing over 20 lbs. (imagine lugging that up the hill as a kid!) the Rocket Plane was the eye candy of the snow sled lineup of the American Acme Company which included other sleds such as the “Royal Sky Plane”, “Sky Plane”, “The Monoplane”, and “The Speedplane”.

In 1927, the American Toy and Novelty Works merged with Acme Wagon Works Inc. and started doing business in Emigsville, PA as the American Acme Company. In 1927 alone the company sold over 150,000 sleds. They frequently produced and sold their sleds to larger department stores such as Sears. In the early 1960’s the company borrowed money to make sleds during the summer months in anticipation of the coming winter, but another company underbid them and suddenly American Acme Company had a warehouse full of sleds it couldn’t sell. It took years to undo that situation and by then plastic sleds had crept into the market and could ride atop even a tiny amount of snow where the heavy wooden and metal Acme sleds couldn’t. The company started moving away from sleds and focused on lawn furniture and butcher blocks and by the time of the company’s demise in the 1980’s they only sold butcher blocks.

This particular Rocket Plane sled was made sometime between the 1920’s and 1940’s based on when we know it came into the family and was most used. It had been sitting in a garage and hadn’t touched snow for several decades.

_________Timestamps___________
0:00 – Overview
1:02 – Disassembly
3:59 – Metal parts electrolysis, cleaning, and painting
6:16 – Wood cross braces and rails sanding and sealing
7:35 – Front steering wood sanding, painting, sealing
8:31 – Outer slats sanding, painting, sealing
12:58 – Middle slat sanding, painting, sealing
14:10 – Rocket Plane lettering recreating
15:23 – Acme lettering recreating
16:07 – New Rope
16:12 – New small screw nails
16:20 – Repairing and cleaning large screw nails
16:33 – Making new flat head rivets
17:04 – Reassembly
21:23 – Before/After
22:03 – Prepping the rails for sledding
22:39 – Sledding time!

_____________Tips for restoring your Rocket Plane (or similar) sled_________
For the wood parts I sanded everything with 150 and 220 grit sandpaper via orbital sander. I filled in any old nail holes with dowel rod and wood glue and sanded smooth. For painting the wood parts I used a water based acrylic paint (hobby/crafting paint) for colored sections and then sealed all wood pieces with four coats of water based spar urethane to make it waterproof. It’s important that your acrylic and urethane use the same base (either oil or water) or they will not dry properly together.

__________Catalyst Restorations Social Media__________
Instagram: @catalyst_restorations

#sled #restoration #antique

[CatalystRestorations]

As much as we all love how satisfying it is to watch sandblasting and making parts from scratch on a lathe, don't forget that the goal of Catalyst Restorations is to break down barriers for others looking to start restoring their own things and make the whole process educational and less daunting to get into! To make this possible, I include infographics with tools and materials I'm using during the project and I use restoration techniques and tools available to almost anyone on a basic budget - I also use my own restored things to restore more things! There are many, many ways to restore things that don't require a $10, 000 workshop. 😎

Do you have fond memories of riding a sled like this when you where a kid? Share your stories below!!

[michelecrown]

Many fond memories of hours and hours of sledding. Including breaking my nose one time and getting a small tree limb that was frozen into the ground puncturing my leg. But that didn't stop me year after year coming down that hill :)
As much as I hate pop rivets in restorations, the ones you used are so large they don't look at bad as regular pop rivets. And aided you in achieving your goal.
One suggestion if you do future lettering on open grained wood like that. Thin out the varnish and give the wood a coat first. The edges of your lettering or designs will come out much crisper.
Thoroughly enjoyed watching this restoration. Looking forward to seeing you fly down a hill. :)

[tammythompson]

Okay....I am gonna date myself here. My brother and I used one of those. That job was just awesome.

[MarkMeadows]

We don't even get snow down here in northern Alabama, so I feel your pain. But hey, I think this was one of your best restorations yet. Lovely job!

[MASI_forging]

Thank you for showing absolutely everything. 😊😊

[tamus]

😂😂😂 the end creased me up, brilliant 👍👍

[jt]

I had the Canadian version of one of those as a kid back in the 50's! :) Great memories!

[robertmanley]

Very very nice !! I love theses old sleds a lot of memories made on this and now many more to be made as well !! Yes winter has been odd this year for sure !! Great video as alway's and amazing work !! 👍👍

[Anrakyr]

Excellent restoration. I have exactly the same one, I also restored them, but in a slightly different way. As a child, riding down a snow slide, I felt like a real Flash Gordon. Oh, the old rocket plane, so many memories. At the end of the video I was already screaming: how so?!

[magdad]

Fantastic restoration! Too bad about the weather!

[adf-meclub]

Clark Griswald's company out of Chicago has a real good silicone spray to put on that sled's runners.

[robkarnosh]

That's Ohio for ya. At least the sled with have at least another 60 years ahead of it and I'm sure it will see the slopes. Keep up the great work. I do sense there may be a quick ball peen hammer restoration in the future.

[oneshotme]

It looks great!! Thank global warming for no snow. We had one hard freeze here in N Florida for the first time in 14 years. And did have 4 to 6 day 40 years ago
Enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up

[CogentConsult]

OMG, DON’T use a chisel or a screw driver as a pry bars. Get yourself a “casing” pry bar. Harbor Freight has them for about $3.50

[fredroe]

I have 2 id like to restore for decorations what rivets and rivet gun did you use?

[howardklein]

Snow totals are just as bad in the NYC region as well, thanks to climate change.