Garbage Disposal Repairs
All of the examples on this page are sterling silver flatware and objects damaged and chewed by the garbage disposal. This is one-of-a-kind silversmithing work usually on significant collectible silver or with sentimental value. A piece of flatware with matching hand engraving can not be replaced.
There are no short cuts to quality repair work. I use my state-of-the-art TIG welder at 10 x magnification to fill in the damage caused by the garbage disposal. If a piece of flatware can easily be replaced, then that will cost a lot less than my repair and restoration work.
Garbage disposal restoration of Diamond Pattern spoons
These spoons all arrived with damage from the garbage disposal. They are fully restored retaining the full dimension and thickness using my state-of-the-art TIG welder to fill in the gouges with sterling silver. This quality work takes time but well worth the investment for this collectible pattern by Reed and Barton, a treasure of mid-20th century design.
Garbage disposal repair of Russian Silver spoon with Niello
This Russian Silver spoon had a delicate engraved decoration filled with Niello to make it look black. The garbage disposal chewed up the spoon and the edge of the handle were damaged. I had to be extremely precise and careful to fill in the damage. The customer was very pleased. They wrote to say, “ I just got the repaired spoon and I wanted to say thank you very much. My wife and I are very pleased with the work that you did in fixing the scrapes. It's seriously un-freaking-believable!”
Garbage disposal damage to two sterling silver spoons
It only makes sense to restore sterling silver flatware if it has sentimental value, unique hand engraving, or it is a unique, collectible or antique spoon. This is not a cost saving measure.
sterling silver Napkin ring repaired after damaged by garbage disposal
This napkin ring was almost 100 year old family heirloom, but a few seconds in a 21st century garbage disposal did bad damage. Preserving the engraving was incredibly important. I filled in the gouge marks with my state of the art TIG welder.
shreve sterling silver forks with applied initial restored after garbage disposal
This napkin ring was almost 100 year old family heirloom, but a few seconds in a 21st century garbage disposal did bad damage. Preserving the engraving was incredibly important. I filled in the gouge marks with my state of the art TIG welder.
Set of sterling silver flatware with hand engraving
In this group of photos, you can see the before and after repair of the garbage disposal damage. I included a close-up of the one of the handles that had literally split in half . I was able to preserve the hand engraving on the handle best possible.
garbage disposal damage across the hand engraved initial
The garbage disposal several damaged the handle with a gouge right across the hand engraved initial. The repair turned out fantastic.
Before and after comparison of a small ladle damaged by garbage disposal
On the left you can see front and back of a small sterling silver ladle badly damaged and bent by the garbage disposal.
On the right you can see the same sterling silver ladle after it was reshaped and the damage filled in with sterling silver.
Fork times get bent and chewed up by the garbage disposal
The left photo is a close up of the damage to sterling silver fork tines chewed up by the garbage disposal. On the right you can see the fully restored flatware after the fork tines are straightened, reshaped, and the damage is filled in with my state-of-art-TIG welder.