Moving on to assembling the buttons, here the Delrin block has been removed from the anvil:
And this is showing the bottom of the lower die set:
It is slipped into the hole in the anvil and tightened in place:
Next a button back, base, or prong button is inserted into the lower die:
It just drops into place. This is what it looks like fully seated:
It is imperative to check this every time a button is to be assembled, and also to develop and stick with whatever consistent sequence of assembly works. If the button back/base/prong is left out, a cap and cover will wasted when they are seated against an empty hole.
This shows the upper half of the die on the right, a 1” socket, the dowel that came with the press, and a ¼” nut driver. The curved depression in the center of the die is where the cover and cap will reside:
And this shows the upper die with the cap plunger extended:
The number 22 is the size of buttons I am making. And this shows the purpose of the socket. Dropping the die into the socket allows the plunger to extend, and provides a sturdy support making it easy to insert the cover and cap. This is a dedicated socket that resides with the button making equipment:
A cover is placed face down on the upper die:
