Circle Cutters Make the (Button) World Go Round

What is the best friend of a button maker?

We suppose that is a difficult question to answer, with many possibilities. Some people might say that their button machine wins the prize, while others might say that there would be no prize without button supplies. But, just for your eyes, is another opinion for you to surmise…

Maybe the circle cutter – yes, the circle cutter – is actually a button maker’s best friend.

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Helping Customers (even in Canada!) One Circle Cutter at a Time

Nothing makes us happier than knowing that one of our products saved someone money, helped them create a memorable item, or generally just made their life a little bit better.

As we get ready to ramp back up again after another wonderful holiday season, we want to share with you a recent email that we received from one of our customers who reached out to us after being pleasantly surprised by how much time and money he saved with our Econo Circle Cutter.

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ABM Video How-To Series: Aligning and Cutting Button Graphics Using a Punch Cutter

What is as smooth as a butterfly’s flutter?
And as precise as Tiger Woods’ putter?
It slices paper like a hot knife through butter,
Ladies and gents, it’s our peerless punch cutter!

That’s right, we welcome you back to the ABM Video Series, where today we educate you on the simple process for lining up and cutting button graphics using a punch cutter.

Here are the steps, and you can follow along as you watch the video:

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ABM Video Series: How to Prepare and Cut Circular Button Graphics

Many times, button making projects involve the creation of bulk sums of buttons. Sure, every now and then you make 5-10 at a time for a small, specific purpose; but, most of the time you are making hundreds or even thousands of buttons and want to make sure that you are being as efficient as possible.

Today’s entry in the ABM Video Series aims to provide useful step-by-step info and a visual tutorial that will help you prepare circular button graphics when you are doing a bulk project.

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ABM Video Series: How to Cut Circular Button Graphics Using an Economy Circle Cutter

Welcome back to the ABM Video Series!

Today’s video tutorial is a very simple one, and shows you how to cut out circular button graphics using American Button Machines’ econo circle cutter.

The econo circle cutter differs from our other circle cutters by obviously being less expensive. Still, it cuts perfect circles and is adjustable from 2 inches to 7 1/4 inches. And while it’s perfect for preparing graphics for button making, it will work well for any type of circular cut you need to make with paper.

Here are the quick and easy steps:

• Create a sheet of paper with as many of your circular graphics on it as will fit.
• Adjust the econo circle cutter to the appropriate size.
• Line the econo circle cutter up on the graphic you are preparing to cut.
• Place your hand on top of the cutter to hold it in place.
• Rotate the handle at the base of the econo circle cutter to quickly, accurately, and easily cut out a perfectly circular graphic.
• Make some buttons!

And, of course, don’t forget the most important step in the econo circle cutter usage process: get one!

Here is your short and sweet video tutorial:

Video: How to Cut Button Graphics Using an Economy Circle Cutter

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Button Maker Price Comparison: American All-in-One Kits v Chinese 3-in-1 Button Makers

Welcome back for post #2 in our weeklong series discussing American-made button maker kits and Chinese-made button maker kits. Yesterday we provided an overview and debunked a few myths about Chinese 3-in-1 button machines. Today we are going to do a button maker price comparison, contrasting the costs of Chinese-made button makers to the costs of our American-made button makers.

First, let’s take a look at the hard costs as we dig into this button maker price comparison.

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Button University Lesson 1: Instructions For Starting a Button Making Project

Throughout the years, so many of our wonderful customers have asked us for information, tips, and tutorials regarding button making and how to use their newly purchased button machine. We are always willing and excited to answer any question whether over the phone or though email, but also have made it our goal to give you online access to as many resources as we can provide.

One of these resources is Button University. We introduced Button University in an earlier post, and now we are setting out to provide all of our loyal blog readers with the same information that our website and storefront customers receive over at the main ABM site.

So with that in mind, let’s dive right into your first lesson from Button University: step-by-step instructions for starting a button making project.

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Using Adjustable Circle Cutters for Buttons, Crafts, Projects

At American Button Machines we pride ourselves on being a one-stop shop for any supply you may need for a wide range of button making projects. What a lot of our visitors and customers do not realize is that many of our products also have useful functions outside the realm of button making.

While our usual focus on this blog is to revel in the wonderful world of buttons, we are actually going to – don’t be alarmed – take a brief step outside of button making to discuss the most versatile product that we sell: adjustable circle cutters.

Obviously the circle cutter tool is a prominent product in our overall line of button making supplies and accessories because it is perfect for cutting circular graphics and photos for making pinback buttons. However, the purpose of this post is to help you step outside the button making box and understand the wide variety of additional projects for which a circle cutter tool can be a perfect tool.

In addition to cutting graphics for pinback buttons, many arts and crafts aficionados use circle cutters to cut numerous items other than paper, and have found tremendous benefits. Schools, arts and crafts lovers, companies, and families have purchased our adjustable circle cutter to cut circles out of paper, thin plastic, construction paper, poster board, and fabric.

Here is a quick video to show you how a circle cutter tool works:

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Fabric Button How-To Series: The Many Varied Uses of Fabric-Covered Buttons

One of the growing trends in monogramming and embroidery is the use of fabric-covered buttons as an accessory for a number of items, from clothing to purses to shoes. Many small embroidery shops have begun to offer a selection of fabric buttons, including custom monogrammed buttons. With a professional grade button machine, a small embroidery shop can quickly expand its product offering with a fun and versatile fabric button that has a number of uses. This post is the second in our week-long series on fabric buttons.

Yesterday, we gave you a brief introduction to fabric buttons and discussed a few pointers for choosing the right fabric. In today’s post, we will discuss the wide variety of uses for fabric-covered buttons that can easily be made with the right equipment, like your own professional button machine.

The Many Varied Uses of Fabric-Covered Buttons

Most button making machines are manufactured to produce pinback buttons using regular printer paper. Fabric is a completely different type of material than paper. It is important to have a button maker calibrated properly to accommodate for the challenges in making a button out of fabric material. Proper calibration ensures the fabric button machine will produce consistent quality buttons throughout its life.

With a little creativity and the right equipment, an embroidery business can expand their offering of fabric-covered buttons and sell a large variety of novelty buttons with a number of different applications. After cutting the fabric to a specific size with our Circle Cutter or Fabric Cutting Press,  a number of different options such as the type we offer on our website www.AmericanButtonMachines.com, can be pressed onto the back of the button to make several different products.

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Buttons for Bands: Using a Button Maker for Band Promotion

Some of the most common pieces of rock and roll memorabilia are novelty pinback buttons. Pinback buttons are sold at many concerts and some have grown to become collectors items. Often no larger than 1 inch in diameter, pinback buttons can carry a significant memory for their owners. » read more