Brass hinge repair

[asalcedo]

The pins in the two hinges in an old metal window have been severed and need to be replaced.

I attach photos.

What is the best way to proceed?

I have tried to push the pin out of the hinge by hammering with a nail centered on the pin but it is not moving.

It is as if the pin is fused with the hinge.

Drilling is an option, brass is soft, but I want to avoid it because of the difficulty to drill exactly centered.

Once the pin is out, which replacement pin should I use?

Thanks,

Antonio

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[Artic]

asalcedo scribbled...

Sometimes... the hinge pin was screwed in.

[GB]

To drill it with any chance of success, you would need a pillar drill. It's possible that the pin is made of something harder than the hinges, which would make the job really, really difficult.

Could you heat it up, to see whether the pin budges?

Apart from that, could you not just get a new hinge?

You'd redrill to fit the new pin.

[Brian Gaff]

Brass, Soft? Not sure what sort of brass you have encountered. Brian

[asalcedo]

Drilling is easy, the pin is not hard, it is probably bronze. I have tried a bit. But since I do not have a pillar drill the hole was quite off-center.

I have tried to find a similar hinge, but the hinges available are all much thinner. Plus I would have to weld them to the window.

I may try heating, but I am reluctant because I don't want to damage the hinge too much.

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[John Rumm]

Well compared to some other metals, brass is quite soft. Easy to machine as well so long as you don't mind brass flakes/dust all over the place.

[John Rumm]

What tools have you got access to?

To drill it out accurately you are going to need either a pillar drill, or to set the hinge up in a 4 jaw chuck on a lathe.

[newshound]

+1.

I would bet *anything* the pins are going to be steel, not brass, in spite of what Mr Rumm says in another post!

I have sometimes been able to remove awkward pins in this situation by fabricating a sort of "press": two rectangular metal plates, with a suitable diameter "punch" fitted in the middle of one, and a matching hole in the other. Then holes either side, with studding and nuts to draw them together. A bit like a bearing puller in reverse.

Heat might well help.

For replacement pins, I would suggest "roll pins" as used on car door hinges and available in a wide range of sizes from eBay.

[John Rumm]

I didn't actually make any statement on the composition of the pins. Only commented to Brian that brass is relatively soft, and elsewhere that to accurately drill them (regardless of metal) you will need a pillar drill or a lathe.

[asalcedo]

The pins are not steel. They are likely to be brass, or perhaps bronze. I say this because when I hand-drilled a bit of the pin it was not too hard and the dust was the same colour as brass.

This is now getting a difficult and important repair: I have contacted a couple of metal window repair shops in London and they said they cannot help (probably they don't want to bother).

I have quite a few of these windows at home and I may have the same problem in the future.

I am thus willing to spend some money to get the right equipment and fix this myself.

Would a pillar drill and vice like '350w Rotary Pillar Drill Drilling Press Bench Machine Table Inc Vice Clamp | eBay'

be good enough?

Will a more expensive one be a better bet?

Which 4 mm drill bits do I get?

I can see the way to drill with the pillar drill and the vice the part of the hinge that is detached from the window. However, how do I drill the part of the hinge that is welded to the window?

Many thanks,

Antonio

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[GB]

Is it really impossible to fit new hinges? Previously you said "I have tried to find a similar hinge, but the hinges available are all much thinner. Plus I would have to weld them to the window."

Thinner hinges may not matter if you can use shims to take up the gap. Plus you presumably can't weld anything without removing the glass.

Could you drill and tap new holes for new hinges, to fit in next to the old ones. Then just bolt the new hinges in using something like

You may have to remove the old hinges with an angle grinder - this always gets people on this NG excited!

[asalcedo]

Yes, it is possible to do what you say. But it looks like as much or more work.

I will keep it as a last option.

Thank you.

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[newshound]

Interesting problem. I suppose the pins could be bronze, and perhaps they are soft-soldered into place in one part to prevent them from coming out. Is there any sign of solder, either visually or by scraping? If so, you might find that heating to a relatively modest temperature will allow them to be pushed out.

The problem with a pillar drill for the "window" part is that unless the hinges are very close to one edge of the window the chuck is likely to foul the frame. You can try using a longer drill, but not all that long at 4 mm diameter. You do get what you pay for in pillar drills. My chinese cheapie would be out of place in a proper machine shop, but it is more than adequate for this sort of DIY repair.

At a guess, the reason the pins failed is that they became tight in the hinge because of corrosion. Unfortunately "strong" acids will attack the brass as well as the corrosion products.

Obviously if you have a lot of these windows it is worth trying to find a repair mechanism for the existing hinges. If it was just one or two I think I might look at removing and replacing them (by bolting, silver soldering, or welding). One thought, would it be feasible to grind the "lugs" off the bits fitted to the frame leaving a flat brass "pad" which a new brass hinge could be silver soldered on to? Obviously, the glass would have to be removed for that.

[newshound]

Sorry, I thought you sort of implied they might be. And, as it turns out, the OP thinks they are cuprous.

[GB]

I doubt it, but good luck.

[asalcedo]

Well, problem solved!

Combination of all inputs here.

The key thought was to know that brass does not weld with steel (the window frame). Thus, the hinge had to be screwed in.

And so it was, after scrapping out the paint, three countersunk slotted screws showed there.

Also, to remove the pin, a proper acetylene torch did the job in no time (I took it to a nearby garage)

Final result is a near perfect job, and more importantly, easy to replicate for future windows.

Drilling would have been the wrong approach because of the difficulty of doing it accurately.

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[newshound]

Excellent!