The original rear “cat flap” door handle broke off one dark and rainy night (see first photo below), and was quickly fashioned into an interior handle while waiting for the exterior replacement to arrive. Once the replacement arrived a few blacksmithing skills made quick work of modifying and installing it. Under the collar of the exterior handle was some pristine original limestone paint that had never seen the light of day, she must have been a sight to behold in her time!
The exterior collar is held in place by fine thread machine screws through captive nuts in the latch plate, and the interior handle held on with a split rolled pin. The square shaft on the replacement had to be cut down to length and drilled for the split pin, taking the opportunity to upgrade the diameter of the pin for strength. It was also installed under tension with some spring washers to help keep the rattling down. The only drawback of the new handle is it is so shiny compared to the originals, nothing sixty more years can’t fix though!
