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.