1950s aluminium windows - keeping the handles on

My block of flats is from 1959 and has those single-paned aluminium casement windows that open upwards that I think were pretty common for the era.

They've got some pretty cool looking handles but these have had a habit of coming off from time to time or breaking, it's impossible to get replacements (or close to - I found four NOS things in steel in the US which are a surprisingly good match) and, over the years, people have just stuck on whatever common or garden (usually much smaller) aluminium handles they could get their hands on, drilling new holes as necessary....because the new ones didn't match the hole patterns on the old ones.

It's got to the point where one of the windows has had around 10 holes drilled (some of them joined together) where once there were four and it's this particular one that is the problem....because now, no matter which handle I try to attach to it, old or new, the screws won't grip - and this is a window that faces out to a park on the fourth floor by the water so we get some seriously fierce winds though. You want your windows to shut.

I just got lucky and salvaged a couple of these old handles with another two on the way so I can finally have all matching window handles in my very small flat - this might not be important to many people but it's important to me.

The handles have four holes - those closest to the pivot are only 10mm long and the two on the outside....well, these are only 5mm long so essentially there are decoration and some theoretical extra support. These screws are 3/16" I think. The reason they're so short is the window pane comes down behind the screws.....use a screw longer than this and you hit the glass and (as I've discovered) break it.

So I'm after advice on how to get these handles to stay on. As I see it I've got four shots:

1. Find a filling compound that will set as hard aluminium so I can put the screws into them

2. Find some other material that I can wedge into the recalcitrant holes (metal shavings or something?) in the way you use rawl-plugs or old matches in a hole where the screw has been in and out so many times it no longer grips.

3. Use a slightly wider screw. But when I hit the local Bunnings, the only countersunk screws/bolts they have go from 3/16" straight up to 1/4" which is just too large for the handles - is there a size in-between and where would I find these (in Sydney).

4. Do any of the above but also use a rock hard adhesive as well to keep it all in place.

5. An idea that is better than any of these....which I haven't come up with yet (hit me!).

New windows are not an option and I do like the clunky 1950s aestethic of these, even though they're a pain in the butt. Next step will be to paint them a dark gunmetal grey. Pic of handle, screws and Swiss cheese window frame attached. The grey stuff you can see is PC Metal putty - fine for filling holes but doesn't hold worth a damn (nor did I expect it to).
Attached Thumbnails http://www.renovateforum.com/attachm...s-img_1058.jpg http://www.renovateforum.com/attachm...s-img_1055.jpg



Read and reply to the full thread at RenovateForum.com....