The buttons are birch wood (flower supports from the local supermarket) with a steel cap top. They are cut in sticks of suitable lengths.
Time to go to Denmark to see Stuart - an old friend with access to a machine workshop. The birch sticks are turned down to the caps' inner diameter, and in one end to a smaller diameter, where they go down into the base plate.
For a long time, the caps were a major headache - until I found a “Rotring” 0.5mm pencil with the most wonderful cap. The shop owner politely refrained from asking what I needed 28 pencils for…
Cutting them was the next headache: an electric drill in a fixture, several triangular needle files and three hours. Stainless steel is no laughing matter.
Birchwood sticks sawed into suitable lengths
This lathe is maybe overkill, but…
Made for concertinas?
Another lathe... one down, 26 to go!
All done!
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