Dr. Don's Buttons
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and custom-made buttons."

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Click on any link below
to learn more about:

Badge-A-Minit's hand press


Badge-A-Minit's bench press

Dr. Don's Model 225 button machine


Badge-A-Minit's Badge-A-Matic 1
(the manually operated machine)


Badge-A-Minit's Badge-A-Matic II
(the electric machine)


If you think
button machines
are pretty much
all the same,
then you should see
how the Badge-A-Minit
button machines stack up
against our
Model 225
in a
feature by feature
comparison
.

 

Click here and you
will also
learn important
information
about the
Badge-A-Minit machines...
things they
won't tell you until
AFTER
you have purchased
their machine.

Click here to see how much
you can save by purchasing
the button supplies you need
from Dr. Don's Buttons.

* * * * * *

There are at least 7 reasons
why you'll like our
button-making supplies
better than what you can get
from Badge-A-Minit.

To learn what they are,
click
here.

* * * * * *

Let us show you
how to turn a button-making
hobby into a profitable,
part-time business.

Learn how you can earn
$66.00 an hour making buttons.

Interested? Click
here



Taking a close look at
Badge-A-Minit's hand press button-making system

The reason most people purchase the BAM hand press is that the advertised priced is only $39.95.

But what many of those people probably don't realize is that for their money they only receive 10 pinback button sets. And a circle cutter for cutting their designs is not included.

Add 250 pinback button sets and a circle cutter, and the price of a BAM hand press would increase dramatically ... to $179.00

Operating the BAM hand press

Of all the button machines compared, the BAM hand press is the most difficult to operate.

Even experienced users are be able to produce little more than one button/badge a minute with a BAM hand press (hence their name... Badge-A-Minit).

Compare that to the Model 225's rate of up to 5 buttons in a single a minute.

One of the reasons the BAM hand press is that slow to operate is that you must use six different plastic assembly rings in the creation of each button. Each ring must be positioned and manipulated in the proper manner and proper sequence for each and every button you ever make.

Badge-A-Minit's web site says the BAM hand press system includes "easy to follow instructions".

After reading the following bulletin, taken verbatim from Badge-a-Minit's own newsletter, Button Talk (Button Talk, Fall 1998), let's see if you agree.

That article, entitled "The Red Ring Holds the Key!", starts out by saying that making buttons with a Badge-A- Minit hand press is "truly a simple process".

 The Red Ring Holds the Key!

"In following the steps on how to make a button, consider this; you have already placed your artwork into the blue ring with the gold ring secured under the tabs on the blue ring, and have snapped it into place with both the beige disc and gray ring using even pressure.

The next step involves the red ring - insert the gold ring and again push straight down, pushing it down into the gold ring. Leaving the red ring where it is, you then flip it over and insert the button back, lining up the pin with lines in the blue ring. You then place the green ring in after the button back, which creates a colorful "sandwich" of assembly rings.

This is where many of you have trouble. When you take this "sandwich" to the hand press to crimp everything together, remember this hint: make sure your red ring is on top! The red ring has an indented circle on it that is the same size as the metal tooth that comes out of the hand press. The indent is an indicator to you of where to line up the assembled sandwich on the press so that your buttons will turn out beautifully after you've squeezed the press firmly (with the sandwich inside)!

Some put the assembled "sandwich" in upside down with green ring on top and this is wrong because the pressure is not applied properly. Likewise, if the red ring is on top but not centered in the indent, you can seriously damage it by crimping in the wrong place. So the key is, to keep the red ring on top and line up the indent with the press before crimping and your buttons will come out looking sleek and professional!


Physical strength necessary to operate the BAM hand press

Of all the machines compared, the BAM hand press requires the greatest amount of hand strength to be able to make buttons.

The BAM hand press is operated by squeezing the machine's handles together, so if you have weak hands or any sort of arthritic condition, this is not the machine for you.

What actually takes place when making a button

Consider for a moment what takes place when you are making a button.

Quite simply, you are transferring mechanical energy from your arm (or the button machine's motor, in the case of an electric machine) into the dies / assembly rings. The button design and plastic covering are pulled taut over the face of the button and the excess is tucked up underneath the button, in much the same way that making a bed tucks the excess portion of the sheets and blankets up under the mattress.

The button back is also pressed into the front, and the edge of the button is crimped to hold it all together.

Plastic assembly rings are not nearly as efficient in transferring mechanical energy into the button parts, as is steel. (Which is why carpenters use hammers made of steel, not plastic or aluminum!)

And the BAM hand press uses assembly rings made of plastic which cause many of the quality issues discussed below.

Quality of buttons the BAM hand press can produce

The most common complaint heard about the Badge-A-Minit hand press is the number of rejects (bad buttons) it makes.

No matter how careful you are, the percentage of rejected buttons it produces, is, by anyone's standards, unacceptably high.

From a user's standpoint, each rejected button can cause three problems.

1. You may not be able to re-use the design from the rejected button, so you may be forced to print/buy more designs and then cut those designs to size.

2. The extra time you will need to spend making additional buttons for each rejected button.

3. With each rejected button, you quite literally are throwing money down the drain.

That's because the mylar disc (often referred to as the plastic) and metal front of the button cannot be re-used, since they are damaged in the first stage of the button-making process.

Each rejected button will cost you just over 21 cents (if you use BAM parts purchased in a quantity of 250) and that price doesn't take into account the cost of any additional printed/purchased designs you may need.

Other quality issues common to buttons made with a BAM hand press is that they sometimes will have paper or plastic sticking out the side, they often have edges that are rough and somewhat serrated, and the edge often has "points", caused when the design doesn't fold tightly over the edge of the button.

The photo below shows a button that was made with a BAM hand press on the left, and a button made with the Model 225 on the right.

The red lines in the photo direct you to the "points" on the edge of the Badge-A-Minit button.

Notice, if you will, the smooth edge of the button that was made with the Model 225.

Professional-quality buttons have smooth, tightly crimped edges and will not fall apart after being made. They also won't have paper or plastic sticking out the sides. So buttons made with the BAM hand press are really not well-suited for re-sale.

Badge-A-Minit's Cut-A-Circle circle cutter

Since cutting your artwork is an integral part of making buttons, discussing the cutter that is included with this system is important for a complete understanding of the button-making process.

Badge-A-Minit's Cut-A-Circle is an all plastic circle cutter that has a straight-edge cutting blade. When the blade is sharp, the cutter works quite well.

However, because the same part of the blade is used for each and every cut, the blade dulls quickly and will need to be replaced on a regular basis.

And the cutting blade on Badge-A-Minit's Cut-A-Circle is not re-sharpenable.

Replacement blades are sold in packs of two for $3.95. If you plan to make lots of buttons, you want to be sure and keep extra blades on hand at all times.

Making photo buttons with the BAM hand press

One of the short comings of the BAM hand press is its inability to make professional-quality photo buttons using photographic prints, such as those you would get from a photo lab.

To make a photo button, users of the BAM hand press are instructed to change the setting on their circle cutter to its second setting, and cut the photograph so it fits on the "face" of the button.

By taking this step, the BAM hand press doesn't wrap the photograph over the edge and up under the button, as it would with buttons made using lighter paper.

The drawback to this procedure, however, is that the photographic image then stops on top of the button and allows the metal edge of the button to show.

And unless the image is trapped dead center on the face of the button, your photograph will sit off-center.

The BAM hand press is made of...

The BAM hand press is made of a plastic-like compound, and it's six assembly rings are made of light-weight plastic. Plastic is cheap and easy to produce, but it is not a material that can stand up well to the rigors of button-making.

Plastic can stretch, warp, crack and break with repeated use.

Badge-A-Minit does stand behind their hand press with a lifetime replacement warranty. But if you should break the press or one of the plastic rings, you must first return the broken part before you will get a free replacement. This could easily take a week or more.

If you break the press or one of the parts in the middle of a job, you will not be able to continue until you have replaced that broken part.

You do have the option of purchasing an extra set of plastic rings to keep on hand, but that would add an additional $21.95 to the price shown above.

Return policy

Badge-A-Minit offers a 30-day return policy with their hand press.

However, you will be required to pay the postage to return the machine, and they will charge you a 10% re-stocking fee if you return the machine.

 

 Pro's and Con's with the BAM hand press

Pros of the BAM hand press

Least expensive button-making machine available

Cons of the BAM hand press

The machine is slow and difficult to operate

Its made of a plastic-like compound

It will produce a high number of reject buttons

It doesn't create "professional-quality" buttons

It won't work well with photo-weight paper

Operating the machine is hard on your hands

Manual Cut-A-Circle circle cutter isn't fully adjustable, and it's blades must be replaced on a regular basis to do good cuts.

 

When you're finished reading about this button machine,
click
here to return to the comparison home page.




(800) 243-8293 or (623) 869-8233

(Canadian customers... you can reach us using our 800 number)

The mailing address for Dr. Don's Buttons is:
3906 W. Morrow Drive Glendale, Arizona 85308

 


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