ice sculpting chisel restoration: new life for 6 badly damaged chisels?

Some years back, one of my New Year’s resolutions was to keep my ice sculpting chisels in better shape. To get things started, I sent some of my older and more damaged chisels to old school ice sculptor Michael Pizzuto to be restored and sharpened. Pizzuto has trained with legendary Japanese ice sculptor Mitsuo Shimizu on sharpening and maintaining these expensive and precise ice sculpting tools.

These chisels in particular have had a rough time over the last few years and it will be interesting to see how far back Pizzuto can bring them. All have a significant amount of rust and the cutting edges are in bad shape. I can’t remember exactly, but a couple of them might have been rescued from my long defrosted studio freezer in New Orleans after Katrina.

In the past, I haven’t carved with these chisels much, as I mainly carve with power tools. However, master ice sculptors like Junichi Nakamura and Robert Bifiulco have demonstrated to me just how effective skillful chisel work can be. In fact, in once instance, Junichi made me realize that my ice sculpting chisel skills were not even in the same league as some world class ice sculptors. (I did better with my power tool skills though!) Anyway, I’d like to improve my hand carving skills, and getting my ice sculpting chisels in shape is the first step.

Despite the bad condition of these chisels, I carefully packed them in a long box, wrapping each in bubble wrap. I insured them and sent them along to Pizzuto via the U.S. Postal Service. (That was partly because they were going to a post office box. But that’s changed as of late, so see below.)

His current address is:
Michael Pizzuto
14891 W. 76th Dr.
Arvada, CO 80007

I enclosed a money order for $120, $20 for each chisel because they’re in bad shape. I wasn’t sure if I would need to pay a little more to get them shipped back, but I don’t think I did. I expect to talk to him soon and I’ll get a clarification on this.

Because I sent them in the winter, I didn’t expect them back quickly. Pizzuto told me a while back that he can only sharpen tools occasionally in the winter, because his shop wasn’t heated. (That’s another thing I need to check on though; I forgot to ask him during a recent conversation.) He told me before though that the turnaround was much quicker in warmer months. Maybe keep this in mind if you need your chisels back quickly, but I’ll try to find out for sure.

I did get them back of course. And then later, I posted again as to how things worked out. You should DEFINITELY check that out. If you have specific questions about ice sculpting chisel sharpening though, call Mike Pizzuto at (303) 423-6560. However, I do know for sure that his prices HAVE NOT changed for a very long time. This means he offers an EXCELLENT deal and you’re basically sending your pricey tools off for an amazing spa day where they can get back to being their own selves