I've been taking care of cigarette lighters for about two years but my collection isn't very well organized. Lately I been thinking about drilling tiny holes in them to remove the risk of explosion. Don't know how many I have. They're beautiful to look at.
I collect lighters, not intenitionally but I do, I am know as the lighter magpie.
I don't think you should drill holes in them... The butane in them is only liquid because it's under a lot of pressure, and if you release that pressure it could explode or something. If you want to get the butane out I would just go outside and press the thing down to let them slowly run out of gas. It will probably take a while, but it's a lot safer than risking an explosion.
I have a lot of lighters, not really because I collect them, but because I can never figure out how to fill them back up so I just buy new ones (but I like the old ones too much to throw them out).
Thanks for the warning. My plan was to wrap the lighter in some cloth and secure it in a vice. Use protection for ears & eyes. It wouldn't be fool proof but proof of my foolishness, I guess. I've dealt with spray cans and other type of aerosol cans before. Cloth, Nail, Hammer, Ear-protection. The lighters that I buy isn't made to be refueled.