Death of a Kilt Pin?

[Daneel]

I love wearing my KA Brechan along with the Xmarks Kilt Pin. They worked so well together but not any more. The pin caught on a chair arm and instead of the kilt fabric tearing, the pin holding the kit pin on snapped in two places. I just don't know what to do now. The pin is a first edition and is special to me. I want to continue to wear it. Any suggestions anyone on how best to repair it.

[Bob C]

I'd bet a jeweler could fix it for you.

[Hamish]

Daneel, I am not quite in the same boat as you - both my original "X Marks..." kilt pins are still in good order, but those pins on the back are very poor and don't allow the decorative part to lie flat on the kilt fabric - they droop! I am still trying to devise a means of overcoming that.

As for your broken pin: I can suggest only that you look out for an inexpensive piece of jewellery with the right sort of pin on the back. Wrench off that pin and superglue it on the back of the "X Marks...." one. I am keeping my eyes open for just such items, but I'm not sure how easily the old pins can be removed from our fine "X Marks..." items without damaging the fronts. Guess brute force is the only way!

Has anyone else solved the 'droop' problem?

[KiltedCodeWarrior]

...Has anyone else solved the 'droop' problem?

Ham, how are you attaching the pin? Are you attaching it with the pin parallel to the ground (which seems to be the obvious choice given the pin location), or with the pin located vertically? I tried it hhorizontally first, and found that the pin drooped and tried to turn under the apron. I decided to turn it vertically, and voila, it worked fine. I keep the larger part of the pin, what would be the bottom when worn horizontally, toward the outside edge of the apron. Hope this helps.

[Blu (Ontario)]

Let's have a look... post a couple of photos of the damaged pieces. Hamish may be on the right track... although cyanoacrylate might work, there are other options that may be preferable.

blu

[GMan]

Daneel,

Glad that the kilt was not damaged. Yet it does hurt when you lose a first edition of anything. Good luck on trying to figure out a good repair, as all I can offer is try a good super glue.

[motorman4life]

Take it to a jeweler and have them remove the old clasp and grind the back flat. Then have them silver solder two pins (like tie tacks) on the back, as far apart as possible on the left and right. You could also have them do 3 pins on the back in a triangle, to give the top support.

The newest version of the Xmarks kilt pin has 2 clasp back pins like these and they work great!

[Andrew Breecher]

Ham, how are you attaching the pin? Are you attaching it with the pin parallel to the ground (which seems to be the obvious choice given the pin location), or with the pin located vertically? I tried it hhorizontally first, and found that the pin drooped and tried to turn under the apron. I decided to turn it vertically, and voila, it worked fine. I keep the larger part of the pin, what would be the bottom when worn horizontally, toward the outside edge of the apron. Hope this helps.

The only problem with this is that the pin isn't round - it's oblong, with the longer axis on the horizontal. If you pin the two pins vertically, then the "X" is sideways from how it should be (on a long vertical axis instead of a long horizontal axis). Just my thoughts.

Andrew.

[Jerry]

The only way to repair broken jewelery is to silver solder it. However, it should be done by a professional because some metals won't take the heat needed to do the job. A professional jeweler will beable to tell if the pin can be repaired this way. If I was going to use glue to do something like that I'd probably use a good grade of epoxy glue, such as that used to fasten the head on a golf club. It would be much stronger than super glue.

[KiltedCodeWarrior]

The only problem with this is that the pin isn't round - it's oblong, with the longer axis on the horizontal. If you pin the two pins vertically, then the "X" is sideways from how it should be (on a long vertical axis instead of a long horizontal axis). Just my thoughts.

Andrew.

Andrew, interesting, I will have to check mine as I am pretty sure it is completely circular. It must be one of the originals as it has a single pin and not 2 tie taks type pins. I will check when I get home tonight.