The gates on the back fence have magnetic latches that look like this:
During the winter, the squirrels chewed the plastic knobs on the top of both latches until they were jagged nubs. I doubted the knobs could be replaced. A new lock costs almost $70.00. I saw replacement plungers (the knob and post assembly that gets yanked up to release the latch and open the gate) for nearly $40.00 - still to much money. After all, the rodents might chew the locks again next year.
I wondered if I could sculpt a new knob. My medium would have to bond with plastic. I saw epoxy putty at Lowe's, but the information on the package didn't seem to guarantee adhesion. I decided to use J-B Weld. The repair process was not smooth. I made it up as I went, but it turned out okay in the end.
I should have taken "before" pictures at the very start. I started slopping epoxy on the gnawed out areas of the knobs, saw it wouldn't be an easy fix, and decided the project was the stuff of blogs. These pictures start near the beginning.
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| The problem was that the epoxy was loose. Gravity made it slide off. I couldn't mold it as I might have done with a clay-like product. |
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| I needed to form a mushroom shape. I tried aluminum foil, but it torn easily. Then I got the inspiration to use stips of duct tape, like petals on a flower. |
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| Next, I used the top of a soda bottle to support my duct tape mold. |
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| J-B Weld, old bowl, and plastic knife for mixing the two parts. |
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| View from the top. |
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| View from the side. I tied some yarn around the base of the knob so the epoxy wouldn't leak out. |
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| View from the top after the epoxy hardened and the soda bottle and tape were removed. |
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| View from the side. |
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| I used a file and sandpaper to sculpt a new knob. |
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| The gray area is epoxy. The black is the original lock. |
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| Top view after some black spray paint. |
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| Not perfect, but good enough. Two latches repaired for five bucks and change. |
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