r/Home • u/marinaratara • 17h ago
Broken antique door knobs
99 year old home has these crystal doorknobs and one by one they are coming apart on the crystal side. The other side has a screw that insets into holes on the rod. The crystal side does not have the same thing. Seems stripped and the knob pulls right off. Any ideas How to fix
These? Very amateur homeowners
- not good at diy. Please Give it to me in simplest terms. Thanks!!
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u/hmd2017 16h ago
There are 2 styles of attachment. Pin/screw through through like the brass side, or a clamping grub screw like the glass side.
The shafts are replaceable. Over time, the threads on the shaft wear down, and the grub screw works loose.
Any good local hardware store should have replacement shafts or complete knob sets. many knob stes have the clamping screw on both handles, and no holes in the shaft.
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u/Wonderful-Bass6651 11h ago
The threading on the inside of the knob is most likely stripped; it should screw on and then get held in place by the set screw. You’re probably going to have to find a replacement knob at a restoration or salvage place.
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u/Penis-Dance 10h ago
It can be threaded to like new with a tap. You would need to figure out the right size. Amazon link to what a tap is. This one would be too big for that. If it's heat treated it won't work.
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u/jim_br 16h ago
The knobs screw onto the spindle — i.e. that square shaft. Then the set screw holds it in place. When the set screw is not tight, the spindle will wear away the threads inside the knob. This happens over years.
I have two fixes I used in my home. The first was for the less damaged knobs. I replaced the spindles with new ones that had better threads. Then I used blue Loctite on the set screws.
On the more heavily damaged ones, I used JB Weld to epoxy the heavily damaged knobs onto one side of the spindle, then the other side was threaded on and the set screws held it in place.