How can I convert a stick pin badge to a butterfly clasp?

Question

I have a badge which uses a stick pin attachment piece like so:

However, this is quite a tricky mechanism to use and align properly, so I would like to swap the stick pin for a butterfly clutch like so:

How could I go about doing this? Is it possible to do with just some basic tools?

Similarly, I have an old butterfly clutch badge which I do not use anymore. Would it be possible to take the clutch from this old badge and attach it to the new one?

Answer 1

For removing the stick pin backing, you need to remove the parts that stick out and file it down to be smooth. To remove, I'd use one of the following:

• a Dremel tool with appropriate bit
• if it looks like the badge was soldered, a soldering iron to un-solder it. (Make sure that the front of the badge won't be damaged by the heat, and follow safety precautions! If you guessed wrong and it was epoxied, heating it may release toxic fumes.)
• a pair of wire cutters, depending on how substantial the pin back is. (This would work well on the butterfly clasp pin pictured, not so sure about the stick pin version.)

Then to smooth the back, you could use a metal file or a Dremel tool with a grinding bit.

To attach the new pin, I would just buy a new butterfly clasp base at a craft store (example). If you really wanted to re-use the clasp from the other badge, definitely use the Dremel tool, as you will need to cut a base for the pin and not just clip the straight pin off.

Then you just need to epoxy or solder it to the now-smooth badge back!

Answer 2

I think that @whrrgarbl has given you all of the correct steps for accomplishing this change. I just wanted to add a couple of additional comments regarding that answer:

I think your best bet is bullet-point number 3. Use wire cutters or a jewelers saw to clip/saw the ends of the stick pin as close to the pin's rectangular base as you can. Then use a jewelers needle file, or Dremel tool to file those ends so that they are flush with the rectangular base. Then you can use epoxy or jeweler's glue to affix a new butterfly clasp to the rectangular piece itself and you don't have to worry about un-soldering it at all.

I think you will be much more successful if you can afford to spend a small amount of money to purchase a few new items: a new stick pin¹ , and, if you don't have a Dremel tool, an inexpensive set of jeweler's needle files. I just found a set on Amazon that are less than $10-I use a similar set that I purchased at a discount hardware store for about the same amount. They will have a finer grit and smaller points that are much more effective than any files you might already have in your tool kit.

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¹ In order to reuse the stick pin you already have, you have to remove it--with its base--from the pin it is currently on and then manage to get the base perfectly flat for re-adhering. Not an easy process.