Category Archives: custom buttons

by | March 7, 2016 · 4:44 pm

Mix Matching- Parts & Machines

Do button makers need specific buttons for them to work? For example, if I bought a 1.25inch button maker then can I get 1.25inch buttons from anywhere and still make buttons or do the buttons need to be from the same company that sold the button maker? This is the only thing keeping me from buying something on eBay (where the brand isn’t necessarily listed) Thanks!

 

Hi there,

What machine is it that you have?

Here are a few different scenarios for you that may answer your question:

If you own a Tecre Machine or a Flex Machine they take Standard American button parts.

If it’s a T150 Machine, that particular machine takes parts that are unique to that machine.

If it’s a Badge-a-Minit Machine, those also take parts that are unique to that machine.

So the best bet would be to contact that seller to make sure that their parts will work with your machine.

Cheers!

BB

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by | March 5, 2016 · 10:07 am

Button Designer

So, you received your button machine in the mail and you’re ready to start making buttons…  but you don’t even know where to begin when it comes to deigning.

Below is a little guide for you on using the free button designer website to help relieve all your stress when it comes to setting up your designs. You may remember our post from a couple years back on the launch of the new free software, but let’s recap here.

 

 

PICTURE IT IF YOU WILL…

It’s been a long day, and you still have a bunch buttons to design for that super important thing tomorrow.

Most people would start brewing that late-night cup of coffee, and get ready to hunker down for the long haul…

But not you! You head over to button-designer.com

WHAT IS BUTTON-DESIGNER?

It’s a website that makes it really simple to whip together button designs. And best of all? It’s freeeeeee 🙂

The website allows you to add an uploaded image, text, icons, etc. to a button template of any size. Once you’re done, the button design is saved as a PDF print sheet, and is ready to be cut and pressed.

 

HOW TO USE BUTTON-DESIGER: A STEP BY STEP GUIDE

1. Go to www.button-designer.com

2. Create a Free Account

3. Select the size of button you are going to design. We carry the button parts and presses for ALL sizes that button-designer offers.

 

4. If you would like to upload an image, Click on “Image Upload” and select your file.

5. Click on any element of the button that you wish to change. For example, to change the maple leaf icon, click the icon on the button template.

6. Use the check boxes to turn off the elements you don’t want or turn on the elements you do want.

7. Click and drag to move the elements on the button face.

8. Once you’re happy with the button design, click the save button. To view the buttons you have saved, go to the button gallery. From there you can print a single button, or create print sheets of one OR multiple designs! 

 

9. Make your buttons

10. Wear you button proudly and get many high-fives and compliments! 

 

YOU CAN USE BUTTON-DESIGNER IF YOU’RE ORDER CUSTOM BUTTONS FROM US TOO!

If you are ordering custom buttons from People Power Press, you can use the Online Button-Designer to create the artwork. All you need to do is provide us with your user name and the image title 🙂 We will retrieve your artwork and produce your custom order!

 

 

 

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by | March 3, 2016 · 3:29 pm

Tecre Machine….. Durable?

 

Could you tell how durable the tecre buttomakers are? How many buttons do you think we could get out of one?

Is the Flex button maker a better option for durability?

 

The Tecre machines are very durable. They are made of surgical steel and have a lifetime warranty from the Tecre company in Wisconsin.

The Tecre machines are for production level quantities of buttons (about 100 an hour) and require minimal maintenance.

Tecre Button Machine

Tecre Button Machine

 

 

The Flex machines are more of a hobby machine for doing dozens of buttons at a time. I would not recommend this machine for doing large quantities of buttons. Both machines use the same parts called “Standard” parts.

Place the button maker on the solid surface and turn the die table so you can access both dies.

Flex Machine

 

 

 

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by | February 24, 2016 · 11:00 am

The importance of lubricating your button presses

 

button machine

Button Press

Hello,

I bought a 1″ press and am experiencing some problems. It seems to be working fine except for when the button is finished there is a slice in the Mylar on the edge of the button and the slice appears to be in the same spot on every button. From what I can tell there isn’t anything in the seams or edges of the machine, please let me know if you have any ideas of what the problem would be.

 

The issue that you’re having is something that I’ve definitely seen many times before.  The first thing that I would try to remedy the situation, is applying some lubricant to the machine. This simply helps the mylar slide along the metal die instead of getting caught on (usually microscopic) metal bits.

Below is a link to a video on our website that walks you through button press maintenance. The part that I’m suggesting you try out is the the die lubrication. (I’ve also heard that a tiny little drop of vegetable oil basically does the same thing…)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8fgicE_Lbo

 

 

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by | February 22, 2016 · 11:00 am

Mylar or no mylar?

button finishes

button finishes

 

Photo above: White People Power Press button is using standard mylar, Yellow People Power Press button is using lamination, Purple People Power Press button is using a thicker paper with no mylar at all. Shiny buttons is with using the Dura-lar technique which I explained last week.

 

Hi Button Guy,

 I recently purchased a Flex 2000 Kit. Made some buttons, and all works great. I have a question about the mylar inserts. Is there such thing as multiple finishes, such as matte or gloss? Seems like I can only find information on using the standard glossy mylar.

There are a few more options you could try to make the buttons you desire without using the standard glossy mylar.

  1. You could laminate your button designs before cutting the papers. Use a thin laminate such as 1mm or 2mm.
  2. You could use a thick paper like card stock and not use the mylar at all.
  3. You could put a matte tape over the design before cutting the papers. This might be the cheapest and easiest way to do it, but it could also be the weakest and the tape could tear or rip.

For information on printing on Dura-lar, check out my post last week

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by | February 19, 2016 · 11:00 am

Making buttons with the Flex1000 Hand Press

flex1000-holiday-start-up-kit_1024x1024

flex 1000

Hi Button Guy,

We purchased the Flex1000 press and finally had some time to try out making buttons.  We started with 2.25″.  The press we have is somewhat different than the one in the videos

Our best button was one that sort of went together but fell apart after 5 minutes of use.  We identified a few possible areas for error.  Maybe you can give us some pointers regarding what we are doing wrong.

1) We found the cutter made circles that are just slightly too big.  We corrected for that be doing extra careful trimming and this seemed to help.

2) There are three plastic rings in the 2.25 die whereas the 3″ die does not have any.  The booklet talks about using 1 plastic ring.  We tried with three and it didn’t work.  When we tried with one we got a button that lasted 5 minutes.  Should we be using the plastic rings?

3) Any other pointers you can give us?

4)  Is there a particular weight of paper we should use? We are kind of frustrated.

 

 

Sorry to hear you’re frustrated.

Here’s a video that shows the machine you have. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUFjU1MNYiY

  1. The paper circles are supposed to be bigger than your button shell because they will wrap around the shell as the button is pressed together. You do need to be careful when cutting the paper circles and make sure the cutter doesn’t move positions on the paper. The mylar and paper circles will fit very tightly in the left die tray and there should not be much wiggle room.
  2. The 3″ die does not come with a plastic ring. It should work without the ring. It is just the 2-1/4″ die set that needs 1 ring (and you have 2 extra included in case you lose the ring).
  3. If you are still having troubles check out the videos email me pictures of the buttons you made and that will help out a lot in trying to figure out a solution.
  4. A standard, 20lb paper will be fine. The machine may have trouble with thicker paper (photograph paper), as it could have difficulty crimping around the pin-back

Also, there is always some spoilage or button mistakes when hand pressing buttons. So the FlexPress will not work perfectly every time.

 

 

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by | February 18, 2016 · 11:19 am

Printing on Dura-Lar

NYE_Buttons_2015_2_large NYE_Buttons_2015_3_large

I just love the principal behind those New Year buttons  (buttons by people power press)– I think I understand – print on the transfer, instead of a printed button template, cut out a gift wrap or even a Christmas Card OR use silver/gold napkin paper and then print on the Dura-Lar film, using it as the the cover instead of the round Mylar – did I say that correctly???NOW! my question – can I assume this Dura-Lar film is like a transparency? and you must use a Laser or copier – where the pattern, words or design is burned into the film instead of an ink jet printer????

 

These are sheets much like transparencies, you are right, that you place into your printer like paper. The People Power Press sell them in single sheets (so you can test it) and in packs. You would then cut the circles as you cut your other printed designs. http://peoplepowerpress.org/products/dura-lar-film-for-printing-and-button-making

You can also use brightly coloured acetate for extra bright colours: http://peoplepowerpress.org/products/acetate-for-printing-and-button-making

It is best to print so that the black text is inside the button so it won’t be scratched off. Yes, the printer matters. You need a laser printer for Dura-Lar as both sides are shiny and an Inkjet printer needs a textured side to have something for the ink to adhere to. I’ve also have found having a dehumidifier nearby helps the ink attach to the sheet much better too. (That is an important shop trick I have learned over the years!) That being said, you can get transparent sheets from a store like Staples that you can use with an Inkjet printer – just be sure that one side is textured and print on that side or else the ink will just smear when it hits the shiny side.

Then you place a glittery holographic paper that you can buy in rolls from a craft store underneath the Dura-Lar, but you can place whatever paper you would like under there. Sometimes, if I want the background to be silver we just let the tin shell show through.

 

view our similar post in 2013 for any additional questions you may have

 

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by | February 16, 2016 · 4:49 pm

….i’m back

Oh, I know I’ve been gone for so long.

But guess what,  I’m back and ready to answer all the questions that may be floating around in your heads!

I’ll start with an email I recently received regarding machine maintenance.

Hello,

These are pictures of my 2.25″ machine. You can see the mylar jammed in. I was looking for advice in how easy it would be to take this apart to clean and put back together. 1

You can clear rust with WD-40 but it also removes grease and all lubricants.  So once cleaned of rust, you need to thoroughly grease and lube the machine.

If the mylar does not pull out with pliers undo the screw in the upper die and take the die out. Separate the shaft to remove mylar, lube and then put back together.

 

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by | September 17, 2014 · 9:32 am

A new button store opening in Montreal. Custom Buttons galore on Ste Catherine Est!

Great news for  all button makers and button people in Montreal.  The guys from Pinscity and Bomacaron have got together to open a button store on Ste. Catherine East in Montreal.

Nic and Joel are making custom buttons right there in the store and both are experienced button makers who can help and advise on any button making project.  Ontario has had a button store for some time, in Toronto, but this is the first button store I have heard of in Quebec. They are stocking button makers, button machines and button parts right there in downtown Montreal.

This is what the store looked like in August 2014 and this is what it still looks like on Google street view.

New Button Store opening in Montreal

New Button Store opening in Montreal

Yes I don’t see a button shop either.  But this is Google street view, it’s always out of date!

The new store is the one with the “Bieres” sign and next time I’m in Montreal I’m going to swing by and see how Joel and Nic are doing.  I will provide a new update with the current picture soon.  In the meantime lets support these guys and their brave new venture!

Macaron Machine Inc.
dba Bomacaron.com & Pinscity.com
4204 Ste-Catherine East
Montreal, Quebec
H1V 1X3

Store closed.  In the meantime get custom buttons made  1-866 996 1984

Checkout the website!     Critical Custom Buttons in Montreal

You can also buy button makers, get supplies for button machines or get buttons made.  Serving Montreal amd Quebec

 

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