His Hobby Is Restoring One-Horse Sleighs

2021 - Volume #45, Issue #6, Page #04

[ Sample Stories From This Issue | List of All Stories In This Issue | Print this story | Read this issue]

Dwight Boak purchased his first one-horse sleigh at a family auction about 18 years ago. It had been sitting in his cousin’s granary and he paid $75 for it.
“I kind of like antiques and sleighs are kind of neat to use for décor at Christmas,” Boak says, explaining that he puts a restored sleigh outside of his St. Johns, Mich., farmhouse during the holidays.
After replacing some of the wood parts, sanding, priming, painting and adding new upholstery, the black sleigh with red accents turned out so well that he bought another one at a sale. He fixed it up and put it on Craig’s List. An Ohio-based photographer bought it for $700 to use as a prop at a mall for holiday photos of kids and pets.
It wasn’t long before Boak became the “sleigh guy” and he got a few more leads on inexpensive sleighs for sale or as gifts from relatives. With each sleigh, Boak has gained experience and grown to appreciate the sleighs made in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s.
“The trim is really thin and steamed and bent. It’s pretty hard to replicate,” he says of the workmanship. He purchases 1/8-in “bendable” plywood and uses scraps he has on hand as needed.
Besides the four one-horse sleighs, he fixed up a one-horse box sleigh. With removable seats, it was used to carry goods as well as people.
Except for the holidays, he keeps the sleighs in a barn he turned into a gathering space for his daughter’s wedding and parties.
Appropriately, one of his finds fits perfectly with his sleighs. When the Boaks purchased the property from relatives, he found a stone with a relative’s name stenciled on it. Later, he figured out that it was likely heated and used as a foot-warming stone in a sleigh. The name ensured that when visiting and heating the stone at a neighbor’s house, the owners got the right stone back.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dwight Boak, 9210 W. Pratt. Rd., St. Johns, Mich. 48879 (ph 989-292-5544; christineboak@hotmail.com).

Click here to download page story appeared in.

Click here to read entire issue

His Hobby Is Restoring One-Horse Sleighs FARM HOME Novelty Items Dwight Boak purchased his first one-horse sleigh at a family auction about 18 years ago It had been sitting in his cousin’s granary and he paid $75 for it “I kind of like antiques and sleighs are kind of neat to use for décor at Christmas ” Boak says explaining that he puts a restored sleigh outside of his St Johns Mich farmhouse during the holidays After replacing some of the wood parts sanding priming painting and adding new upholstery the black sleigh with red accents turned out so well that he bought another one at a sale He fixed it up and put it on Craig’s List An Ohio-based photographer bought it for $700 to use as a prop at a mall for holiday photos of kids and pets It wasn’t long before Boak became the “sleigh guy” and he got a few more leads on inexpensive sleighs for sale or as gifts from relatives With each sleigh Boak has gained experience and grown to appreciate the sleighs made in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s “The trim is really thin and steamed and bent It’s pretty hard to replicate ” he says of the workmanship He purchases 1/8-in “bendable” plywood and uses scraps he has on hand as needed Besides the four one-horse sleighs he fixed up a one-horse box sleigh With removable seats it was used to carry goods as well as people Except for the holidays he keeps the sleighs in a barn he turned into a gathering space for his daughter’s wedding and parties Appropriately one of his finds fits perfectly with his sleighs When the Boaks purchased the property from relatives he found a stone with a relative’s name stenciled on it Later he figured out that it was likely heated and used as a foot-warming stone in a sleigh The name ensured that when visiting and heating the stone at a neighbor’s house the owners got the right stone back Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Dwight Boak 9210 W Pratt Rd St Johns Mich 48879 ph 989-292-5544; christineboak@hotmail com

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.

SUBSCRIBE OR RENEW NOW