Sleigh Restoration

Our client, who is the owner of a WWII museum and an avid collector of historic airplanes and vehicles, fell in love with this beautiful Albany Sleigh. Although this two-seat sleigh was mostly "solid" and would have been a good contender for a restoration in which we would have preserved all the original parts and paint, the dash with two large cracks made us decide that a full restoration was the way to go with this particular artifact.

After removing the upholstery, we started by documenting the paint detailing and stripping the paint from the body. The dash was completely recreated by steam bending the graceful curve to the wood and shaping the dash to match the original. All other wood components were sanded and small repairs were made to the wood parts. The metal parts were sandblasted and sanded smooth. Multiple layers of high-gloss black paint were used to paint the sleigh and a deep vermillion red was used on the body panels and sleigh runners. The scroll designs and embellishments were replicated to match the original designs on the sleigh, with a couple slight modifications to create a family crest on the seat riser for the new owners. The results were stunning.