Repairing a Broken Window Latch

The weather is somewhat furnace-like this week. So I wanted to leave the windows open in our bedroom at night. Unfortunately the latch on one of our windows had broken. I could have gone to the local Habitat for Humanity store and hunted up a replacement latch but I decided to try to fix it.

I removed the latch. It is made of some sort of pot metal.

I drilled a hole in each end of the broken pieces.

I used a small piece of Music Wire to strengthen the joint. I probably drilled in about 3/8" in each part. The music wire is stiff and strong.

I mixed up some J-B Weld Epoxy and smeared some on both ends of the rod.

Squished the parts together.

Then I smeared some extra JB Weld on the part.

About 3 or 4 hours later, with the epoxy pliable but not runny, I molded it around the latch.

The next day, with the epoxy hardened, I screwed the latch back on the window and was able to lock it. If it doesn't break again in the next week I'll paint the epoxy black, not that it impacts the overall aesthetic of our house.

Some links and tools...

Sorry for the short post, we've been far too busy lately. This is my haul from a yard sale last week


The oil can is for Kent's collection, the Goodell-Pratt drill has in good shape with 4 bits in the handle. The gouge has a rosewood handle and I was able to clean it up and sharpen it. Anyway, the pile was $2.00 which is a good score.

Here are a few links:

• Graphotype.net
• Search for the "Old Bill" machinist stories in Popular Science. Great information!

Henry the Machinist.

Henry has been drilling the holes in his Lego earrings for a while but I always set the drill press up for him. I figured it was about time to teach him how to set it up as well.

Putting the drill bit in the chuck.

Tightening the chuck.

Turning it on.

Positioning the work.

Drilling the hole. He drilled about 30 legos.

I still helped him out but he's making great strides towards understanding how the drill press works and how to drill a hole where he wants it to be. Now we need a lathe project.

Here's a great tutorial on inlaying precious metal into steel.