Sterling Silver Comb Fitter
Repair Issues
Very often the sterling silver comb fitters have problems that are concealed by dirt, corrosion or rivets that are too large from previous repairs that were poorly done. Many of these issues (shown in the photos below) are not apparent until the comb is removed.
Green corrosion on your comb
Green corrosion on a sterling silver comb fitter is a warning! Sometimes it is an indication of a split seam (shown in the photos above). The green corrosion inside the comb (left photo) is revealed on the outside of the sterling silver fitter running along the seam (right photo.) The seam on the comb fitter should be repaired before the seam splits further.
The seam on this comb was split on about half the comb and had to be soldered. back together. In the photo (below) you can see the comb after the seam was repaired.
Green Corrosion Revealing a Split Seam
In the above photos, the green corrosion reveals a split seam on the end of the comb. Below is the same comb with the split in sterling repaired and a new tortoiseshell plastic comb replaced and silver polished.
Damage to the end of the sterling silver fitter
Once in a while, the end of the sterling silver comb fitter is split. In this example, it also had holes drilled into the ends of the sterling fitter for a small nail. Hammering nails into the comb is not a good way to secure a plastic comb. No wonder the sterling fitter arrived with no comb. With the customer’s permission, I soldered the split in the end and filled in the hole with sterling wire, and soldered it in place. The new comb was fit and riveted in place (shown below.)
STERLING SILVER COMB FITTER WITH SPLIT SEAM
The sterling silver comb fitters were stamped from very thin sheet. Then the two sides were soldered together down the spine. The photo above shows a sterling silver comb fitter with the seam split along the spine. The seam must be soldered or the split will continue down the length of the comb until the comb falls apart. Look at the photo below of a comb that split all the way down the seam. It arrived in two pieces. Don’t let this happen to your comb. It becomes a much bigger repair job.
RIVET HOLE RIPPED TO EDGE
Sterling silver comb fitter with rivet holes ripped through to the edge. This happened because large steel escutcheon pins were used instead of sterling silver wire.
RIVET HOLE AT THE END OF THE FITTER
Sterling silver comb fitter with a rivet hole drilled in the end and a split seam. Rivets or pins in the end always fall out as there is no mechanical way to hold the rivet in place. I always recommend filling in the hole with sterling silver and using a small rivet on the side instead. It is far more secure.
Rivet HOLE DRILLED TOO CLOSE TO THE EDGE
Sterling silver comb fitter with the hole for the rivet drilled too close to the edge. This hole must be filled in with sterling silver and then drilled for the rivet.
POORLY DONE REPAIR
Sterling silver fitter with poor repair causing damage to the edge. Then the rivet hole is drilled too large during a previous replacement of the comb.
SILVER PLATE ON NICKEL SILVER
This nickel-silver comb fitter with corrosion. Nickel-silver is not actually a silver alloy, it is a type of white brass. The nickel-silver has corroded, lifting up the layer of silver-plating and eating away at the base metal.. All of the corrosion must be removed before it can be re-plated and set with a new comb.