buttons: from start to finish (guest post by jeff)

Today's post is a guest post by Jeff. He has been wanting to share the entire process of how he makes our buttons, so that you can see how much love and work goes into each and every one of them. He originally titled this post: "How We Make the Most Awesome Wooden Buttons on the Planet (in this case it's Birdseye Maple Wood Toggle Buttons)"... but that title was a tad long, so we used a shortened version.

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There are a lot of wooden buttons out there on the Market,

 but very few compare in Quality to the ones we make,

 that's just the simple fact.

  I guess there's probably a lot of different reasons why folks
 just don't put the energy into it that we do.

 For one thing I suppose most people don't live as simply as we do,
  and can't afford to work for slave wages...HE HE..... 

You'll see what I mean when you see the process.
And some people have all kinds of Primo equipment that does all the work, but puts out flat buttons with no personality.  

Each button we make doesn't just suddenly appear out of nowhere,
 as if some Fairies came in the night and Poofed em out.
 Nope, it's a long sacred process to put out a button with some energy in it.

So here we go.....

First we start with the Raw Material.

In this case it is a piece of an amazing Birdseye Maple Burl table,

that I made maybe 30 years ago....

But boy did it have a gnarley edge...

I'm talkin 

OUCH on the Shin Bone !!

So when Bracken was born I was thinking,

"Bracken's Little head
 would not  enjoy an encounter with the 

Edge of the Table."

So with Great Joy,

we decided to make that table
 into blessed things

to share with a whole bunch of people.

WOW..... YIPEEE!!!

Below is a Picture of about a third of the table. (note the gnarley edge on top.) 
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 I cut off a manageable size piece with the chain saw..  
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Then I slice it into whatever size it's going to be.

(This was an order for 75 Toggle Buttons.)
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And here is my Trusty Machine.

It's Got an 8 inch Sanding Drum.

It uses water to keep the wood cool so it won't burn

with the finer grits..

So I put an apron on,

go in the house and get a bucket of water,

(hot water if it's Winter).

Then bring it out into the Garage Shop

 and dump it in another bucket,

that has the pump that runs the water

to the Drum.

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Here you see me sanding the First of 4 Grits,

sometimes I can get by with 3.

But for this order I'm starting with a 100 Grit Sandpaper,

then 220

then 400

Then 600.

Taking the paper off the drum each time to change it,

because I'm down to 1 good drum, and when I made these the bearings were shot so it would only work with one drum.. It was like working in a room with a Wailing Banshee. (hence the ear protection.)
 I've replaced the bearings and she's running smooth now.

Below is a picture of the sanding close up.  

(That wheel is turning pretty fast.)
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So I roughly shape em on the first grit...

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These are after the first grit (100 grit) ,

basic shaping..

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Look at that wood. It's so beautiful.  Every piece like a little work of Natures Art. 
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Now here's the thing about how we make em...

None of our buttons are just flat...

They are all rounded.

It's basically the difference between sanding 2 sides

or sanding 30 to 40 sides or so....

  Big difference in the work involved.

  With most buttons out there the sanding cycle is like:

zip zip 

  on 1 grit, maybe 2,

  Finishing at 220 or 320.

 

Making ours is like

  zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip ,

  zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip,

  zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip ,

  zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip zip ,

   

Repeated On 4 grits  

Ending in 600 Followed by 2 polishing compound buffs.
 

 

Making a button rounded,

takes about 10-30 times as long to make

 as it does to make a flat button .

  (actually probably more than that, 

it's 10 - 30 times more in each stage...so YIKES)
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Below is a picture of them right after the final 600 grit.
Before the Polishing process. 
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Then they dry for a few days

And I start putting on coats of a mix of

Walnut oil, Carnuaba wax,

and Shellac and alcohol to thin it.

And I rub it in to each one really good.

I let a couple of coats dry...
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 Then Steel wool it...
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Then put on a final coat...

It doesn't sit on the surface of the wood,

but since it's cut with alcohol,

it goes down into the wood..

And anything left on the surface,

I wipe off with a soft cloth.
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Then I let the final stage dry.

Next I have an Electric Buffer with 2 Wheels

Two different degrees of polish..

Now here's a thing I suppose you might not think about...

but holding these small buttons 

against a rapidly turning sanding or polishing wheel...

Can have repercussions..

Fingertip removal with the sander,

and polished fingetip and high speed projectiles 

with the polisher..

Tricky hanging on to those slippery little dudes. (this is why our really small buttons can be more expensive than the larger ones.)

Then I Polish the wood down to a 

Mirror Finish. 
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I use a template I made for marking the button holes. 
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Make start holes for the drill bit.

Use a Dremel or high speed drill.

(otherwise is slides off to the side). 
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 Drill the holes...
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Then we tie them on to cards,

into different size sets. 
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Taryn staples the cards together. 
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Then she takes Pictures of them on the cards...

And Posts them to our ETSY shop.
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So you see it's quite a process for each button.

  And for the work involved our prices are incredibly low....

If someone has made something really nice,

  that needs a button...

  And if they have put all this loving energy into it...

  It deserves buttons made with the same energy.
And I want everyone who wants buttons

  to be able to afford to get some

  special ones from us....

 
So we keep our prices down as low as we can.    

Sometimes when I tell people that 

 I make wood buttons for a living, 

  they look at me like,

   

WHAT!! 

  They can't quite comprehend it.
But here's the thing
 the way I see it.

  People out there in the world

  are working their Love and  Creative Intention

  and fingers,

  and making wonderful things to wear.

   

And blessing themselves or others with these

  Creations of Love and Will... 
And what these creations need in the way of buttons,

  should also be imbued with love and creative intention.
Putting on a Plastic or mass produced button...

  just doesn't cut it.

 

And then there is the Wood 

  We live in the Forest... 

  And we love Nature. 

  And Wood is one of Natures wonderful Creations.

  There are just so many beautiful woods. 

  And they need to be shared with folks who, 

  maybe don't live in the woods,

  or just folks who love the beauty of Nature

  as much as we do. 
So that is what I do.....

 
I make Buttons

 

And I love it.

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