While working on embroidery or sewing projects, you might need some buttons for adding the finishing touch to your work. Instead of buying buttons, having your own custom-made buttons would give you personalized designs that would match your work quality.
Button making machines can help you do this with only a few basic materials. They can make buttons in a variety of sizes and shapes and are quite easy to use. They can also help you “imprint” any design onto your buttons, allowing you to explore your creative side.
However, some button machines might not suit your needs. To get the best button maker, you need to understand the various features that make each machine what it is and if it suits your button making needs.
Editor’s Choice Best Button Making Machine
This article looks at some of the best button machines’ features and the benefits that these features mean to you.
DAWEI Button Maker Badge Making Machine Button Maker
This Dawei button maker is very strongly built. Its body frame is made from solid, die-cast aluminum, capable of handling the button pressing process with ease. Its handle is built from steel, which never bends or compresses whenever you turn it to punch the button. The sliding plate that holds the molds is also made from metal, and this enables it to hold the molds firmly in place. This full metal build makes it sturdy and durable.
The metallic sliding plate holds two molds: one for making the badge (for buttons, bottle openers, key holders, etc.) and punishing the pin back into the badge. This plate is held freely on the button maker’s frame, allowing it to slide from one mold to another when punching the different parts of the buttons together.
In addition to the two molds, this button maker comes packaged with several items such as 1000 sets of 44mm badge parts and a circle cutter. These extras provide everything you need to begin making your own buttons immediately after purchase.
Furthermore, the machine is quite easy to use. A user manual is included just in case things get tough. This ensures that you have a gentle learning curve to get into the fun part: making customized buttons.
Features at a glance
- It is made from solid and sturdy parts that make it very durable.
- It comes with two molds for the two-step button making process.
- The molds are 44 mm in size but are interchangeable with other mold sizes (which can be bought separately).
- It is semi-manual. The punching process requires you to press with your hands, making it semi-mechanical.
- It comes with a lot of extras.
Badge Button Maker Kit! Heart Shape Machine
This button maker is unique due to its 2 heart-shaped molds that enable you to make heart-shaped buttons. However, this machine can also support 17 more types and sizes of molds (totaling 18 when you include the heart-shaped mold).
For round molds, it supports 25mm, 32mm, 37mm, 40mm, 44mm, 50mm, 56mm, 58mm, 65mm, 75mm, 90mm, 100mm, and 110mm. Other fitting molds include a square 37mm by 37mm, an oval 45mm by 65mm, and two rectangle molds measuring 40mm by 60mm and 25mm by 70mm.
These give you plenty of flexibility in terms of the different designs of buttons that you can make. However, they are not included in the package and must be bought separately if required.
The two molds (one for making the badge and the other for attaching the pin back to the badge) are held on a rotating plate that allows you to position one mold below the punching press at a time.
Apart from the molds, this button maker comes with 100 heart-shaped button parts that include 100 shells, 100 pin backs, and 100 pieces of mylar. These provide you with some of the basic requirements to start making buttons immediately after purchase.
Features at a glance
- It is quite small in size, making it very portable.
- It has a full metal build, making it very strong and durable.
- Its heart-shaped molds measure 58mm, enabling you to make 58mm buttons.
- It is quite expensive.
Button maker All metal 3″ 75mm Badge Button Maker Machine
This button maker is quite reasonably priced for the features it offers. It has a full metal body frame, with a metallic handle and a metallic rotating plate. These parts make it very strong, therefore, capable of handling numerous button punching actions with ease.
It comes with 2 metallic molds, which, together with the punching piston, are polished to have a shiny look. The rest of its body and plate are painted black, while the handle is grey, making this machine have a monochromatic kind of appearance, which looks very good.
The molds are round in shape and measure 75mm in diameter. Each has a different function: one does the badge making while the other punches the pin back into the badge and completes the two-step button making process. Using them is quite easy, and this is very advantageous to beginners.
This package comes with a glass made circle cutter that is quite easy to use. It does a good job in cutting out printed circular images, which are used in making badges for buttons, bottle openers, and key holders, among many other things.
The package also includes 100 sets of rounded pin button parts. These parts include 100 shells, 100 pin backs, and 100 pieces of mylar.
Features at a glance
- It has a full metallic construction, which makes it strong and sturdy.
- It can accommodate other circular molds and other shapes such as a 37mm square mold, an oval 45mm by 65mm mold, and a rectangular 40 by 60 and 25 by 70 molds. However, these must be bought separately.
- It comes with an adjustable circle cutter.
- It looks perfect.
- It has a rotating plate for positioning the molds under the punching press.
Button Maker 1″ 25mm Kit!! Badge Button Maker Machine
As its name suggests, this button maker has 2 25mm molds: one for making a badge and the other for attaching the pin back to the already made badge. To give you a head start, it comes with 100 sets of 25 mm pin button parts. Each part consists of 1 metallic shell, 1 pin back, and 1 mylar. These pieces are great starters for your button making project.
It also comes with a circle cutter made out of glass that is quite easy to assemble and use. It is used to cut out circular pieces of printed paper for creating the different designs on badges.
The machine’s parts are entirely made out of metal. The molds and punching press have polished surfaces that are very shiny. They actually look like the pistons of a car engine. The rest of the body is painted black and grey, which looks like an engine block.
Combining these parts closely resembles a car engine, and you get to crank it when punching the button parts together, which is very cool.
Apart from the 25mm mold, this button maker supports a wide variety of other molds that include rounded 32, 37, 40, 44, 50, 56, 58, 65, 75, 90, 100, and 110mm molds, a 37mm square mold, heart-shaped (75mm), oval and rectangular molds.
Features at a glance
- It comes with a circle cutter and 100 pin button parts sets.
- It has a full metal body construction, which means it is solid.
- It has a rotating plate for positioning the molds in place.
- It can accommodate other types of molds.
- It is quite small, and therefore very portable.
ChiButtons (KIT) 25MM(1″) BADGE MACHINE BUTTON MAKER
This is one of the most affordable button makers in the market. It comes with a circle cutter made from glass and enables you to slice decorations for your badges.
It also comes with 500 pin parts (500 shells, 500 pin backs, and 500 pieces of mylar), which are more than enough to use for testing as you train yourself on how to make the buttons.
It is equipped with 2, 25mm round molds that can be used to make 25mm sized buttons. These molds are interchangeable and can be replaced with others that are larger and with different shapes.
It is compatible with 32, 37, 44, 58, 75, and 100 mm rounded molds. Oval (45 by 65 and 65 by 90), rectangular (25 by 70, 40 by 60, 50 by 90), square (37 and 58), pentagon, hexagon, and octagon (65 by 58) molds can also be used with this machine.
It has a metallic body frame, which is very strong and holds the handle and rotating plate firmly in place while making buttons. The handle and rotating plate are also metallic, meaning that the whole piece is powerful and durable.
Features at a glance
- It is very affordable.
- It comes in various colors (black, blue, golden, pink, and silver).
- It comes with a huge quantity of pin parts, meaning that you have more than enough parts to experiment with.
- It comes with a circle cutter.
- It comes with 25mm molds, which are interchangeable with other bigger or differently shaped molds.
Things You Need to Know About The Best Button Maker Before You Buy
When it comes to selecting the best button machine, there are several things you need to consider. These are:
Build quality
A button making machine is exposed to constant stress when punching and releasing buttons. This constant movement, which uses a lot of force, might ruin the machine due to wear and tear if it is not properly built.
When buying this machine, it would be better to buy one with metallic components, made of steel, aluminum, etc., so that it can last for a long time while still performing at optimum performance.
Metallic button makers are also quite heavy, and this is so that it holds itself steady when you exert pressure on the handle. Lighter materials might make it very unstable, reducing the number of buttons you can make in a day.
Size
Some button machines have a single mold size that can fit on it. Others come with one sized mold but can be interchanged with other sizes and shapes. Ideally, it would be best if you had flexibility when you want to create different types of buttons.
It would be wise to consider the buttons you want to create, perhaps those you may want to create in the future, and then buy a button machine that suits that preference.
Alternatively, you can go for the one that is compatible with most shapes and sizes because it gives you many options.
Bundled extras
Extras are always a plus. When it comes to button machines, the most common extras are button pin parts and circle cutters. Most machines come with a single circle cutter, but the number of pin parts varies depending on the manufacturer.
The more they are, the better. They are essential for first-time users because they give you material to practice on. Otherwise, you would have to buy them separately because, ultimately, you will need a circle cutter and pin parts to proceed.
End products
Most button makers can also make key holders, bottle openers, rope ties, etc. The more you can make with your button machine, the better. It would be best to avoid the basic machines that can only make pin badges or magnet badges and buy the advanced ones that allow you to make a wide variety of objects.
Price
Button machine prices are not clustered around a narrow price range. Some are quite expensive, while some are quite affordable. A quick analysis of the features and quality should be done before buying any button machine than their prices. The ideal thing to do would be to buy a good quality machine that is priced fairly.
Conclusion
There is a wide variety of button making machines. Selecting the best one for your project might mean the difference between success and failure. Based on the features and considerations to make before buying, the best button maker should ideally have a metallic body frame plus parts.
It should also be compatible with a large number of differently sized and differently shaped molds. In terms of extras, a circle cutter and multiple button pin parts should be included to be considered for the machine.
Finally, it should make multiple objects and be at a comfortably affordable price range.
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