Carving Set
Repair & Restoration

Carving set two knives two forks sharpener
carving set two knives two forks sharpener before restoration
Split sterling silver carving knife handle

Large and small carving set with sterling handles

This carving set arrived with one of the handles split because it had gotten too hot. When the pitch inside the handle is heated, it expands and can either push out the knife or expand and split the seam on the sterling silver handle. The sterling silver carving knife handle was repaired, and the knife reset. Then the knife blades, forks and sharpener were all polished. Polishing steel is a major undertaking. The hardness of the steel which is important to keep a sharp blade makes if difficult to polish. The final step is polishing the sterling silver handles.

Antler handles sterling caps carving set
Antler carving set restored

Antique Antler Handle Carving Set

Antler handle sets are complicated to work on. The antler are all different. The caps for the antlers were custom made to fit. There are no replacement parts. The goal is to make everything fit back together but there is a limited symmetry.

Francis Higgins grape Vine sterling handle carving set before polishing
Francis Higgins grape vine sterling carving set

Francis Higgins sterling handle grape vine handles

Carving set with sterling silver handles by Francis Higgins has elaborate details of grape leaves, grapes and vines. The knife blade is sterling silver which was very unusual. The fork tines were bent and nicked up. The blade had to be removed and reset. It is a pleasure to work on something so magnificent.

Francis Higgins carving set repair in progress
Francis Higgins carving set restored

Antique Francis Higgins Carving set

The photo on the left is during the restoration work. I had to take the knife and fork completely out of the handle, clean them up, and reset both the knife and fork in the sterling handles. Every knife resetting job looks this bad from the pitch mess (left photo.) This is why polishing is included as part of the restoration work. I spent over an hour just removing 100 years of crud from the sterling handles with q-tips and toothpicks. The steel fork and steel knife were lightly polished to remove the rusty uneven surface.

four piece carving set rusty forks sterling handles
four piece carving set polished steel sterling handles

Four piece sterling handled carving set sharpened and polished

Both of the carving forks are steel and arrived very corroded.  The steel was polished best possible to restore their appearance. The carving knives were professionally sharpened. The sterling handles were polished.

The steel forks were very deeply pitted. While I can polish the steel, the deep pits from rust and corrosion were not removed because I would have had to grind away too much of the steel. Steel knives and forks can be maintained by washing immediately after use, and wiping with Burt's Lip Balm every time before storage. 

Vintage carving forks with original rest
Carving forks updated rest removed

Vintage Carving forks with plastic handle and mother of pearl handle

For these antique carving forks, the clip-like fixture on the back was removed as requested by the customer. This modification made these carving forks more usable and modern in appearance. The original steel carving fork was polished to remove rust and pitting. Extra care was taken to protect the mother of pearl handle (top) and celluloid plastic handle (bottom).