I found myself entirely out of maple strap buttons- SO it was time to make some more.
It is a fun and easy task. You clamp a square scrap of maple in the lathe chuck and turn it round.
I use a small gouge to round the head of the button first.
Then this square ended cut off tool shapes the shank and gets it down very close to the proper diameter.
Aw, Just right!
Then a little smoothing up
Saw it off with a fine toothed saw
And Voila !, A strap button is born
Now, to make room for the next one, you round off a little more of the stock.
And in a few minutes you have a good start on a supply of maple strap buttons. It is kind of fun to do and I think I will turn a bunch of buttons tomorrow morning of various wood scraps,
