Convert Pin Badges to Fridge Magnets

I found a collection of my old pin badges recently and, although I like them a lot, I dont really wear badges anymore. This is an instructable to show how I converted them from badges to fridge magnets!

You will need:

• Your old pin badges
• 3mm plywood
• Small magnets (these are 5mm x 2mm neodynium magnets)
• Felt or funky foam
• Glue - I used power bond, but epoxy could also have been used

Tools:

• Laser cutter (this could also be done with a drill and a saw, but hey...)
• Ruler or digital calipers

Using a pair of pliers remove the pin inserts from the badges.

Some of them were very easy to remove, some required a bit of fiddling - it all depends upon the badge.

Measure the inside of the badges. We will use this measurement to make some wooden inserts to hold the magnets.

I did a quick design with three smaller holes of 5mm diameter and the outer size the same as the inner measurement of the badge.

Using a laser cutter I cut this out in 3mm ply.

I also cut circles in the felt.

Using the power bond gap filling glue I stuck the wooden circles to the back of the badges.

I added a bit more into the magnet holes and then squidged magnets into each hole. I used two magents in each hole and made sure that their polarities were all the same way around.

Using a thin layer of glue, I stuck oin the felt to the back. This stops them scratching the fridge door.

Leave the glue to dry for a few hours.

They make a fine addition to your fridge. And they can hold notes and stuff.