166 



BUTTON. 



Button- Button moulds are only used at present for the 

 purpose of sewing up in a piece of the same cloth as 

 t j ie g arment to w hich they are attached. They were 

 formerly covered with the most costly materials, by 

 women, who were seated round a table, and each had 

 a large needle fixed in the table opposite the part 

 where she was seated, and also a bobin, containing 

 the thread to cover the button. The mould was 

 stuck by the hole in its centre upon the needle, and 

 the end of a thread of silk, mohair, and sometimes 

 gold thread, put through the centre at the same 

 time, to fasten one end ; the thread was then wound 

 about the button mould to cover it, and present an 

 ornamental surface, such as the fashion of the day, or 

 the fancy of the maker directed. As this art is now 

 obsolete, one pattern, Figs. 2, 3, and 4, from many 



C'Vll. thousands in vogue thirty years since, will give an 



2 3 id ea O f the disposition of the covering. Fig. 2. is 

 the button just beginning to be covered ; Fig. 3. the 

 same in an advanced stage ; and Fig. 4. is a finished 

 button. The thread being fastened at the centre in 

 the back, (see Fig. 2.) is brought to the circumfe- 

 rence on the dotted line 1, and wound across the 

 front, as shewn at 2. It then passes behind again, 

 on the dotted lines 3, and in front at 4 ; across the 

 back on the dotted line 5, in front at 6 ; and passing 

 behind on the line 7, is laid in front at 8 ; making a 

 complete square in front. By continuing this pro- 

 cess, and laying the threads beside each other, the 

 square becou.es less, as in Fig. 3 ; where the Num- 

 bers 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, again denote the 

 progress of the thread, which alternately passing over 

 and under the former folds, the intersections form the 

 appearance which begins to be visible at the angles 

 a, b, c, d. As more thread is wound on the four sides 

 of the square, 10, 12, 14, and 16 meet round the 

 centre pin, and the mould is completely covered, as 

 in Fig. 4. The end of the thread is fastened by 

 sewing it through the centre ; and, in some cases, by 

 placing a small ornament upon it. In others, a num- 

 ber of the last folds which are wove round the nee- 

 dle upon which the mould is fixed, and therefore do 

 not perfectly unite an the centre, are drawn together 

 by passing the thread round them before it is sewed 

 through the centre. At the back, a great number 

 of the folds of thread are taken up and tied together 

 by a strong thread, to serve the purpose of a shank 

 to sew the button to the garment : This, at the same 

 time, prevents the folds of thread at the back from 

 slipping over the edge of the mould. In this state the 

 common buttons were finished ; but the finer kinds 

 were afterwards ornamented with wire, or threads co- 

 vered with silk or gold, woven in the threads of the 

 plain button, in various fantastic patterns ; one of 



fig. 5. which is shewn in Fig. 5. Sometimes the moulds 

 were sewn up in pieces of cloth elegantly wove 

 of gold, silk, white horsehair, &c. and ornaments in 

 gold or silver were sewed on the surface. All such 

 buttons were, after covering, exposed in a sort of 

 cullender over the flame of burning spirits of wine, 

 to remove the small filaments of silk projecting from 

 their surface, and render them smooth : the workman 

 keeping them in constant motion during this pro- 

 cess, to avoid burning or damaging the buttons. 

 They were afterwards cleaned, by shaking a great 



3 



Buttoa- 

 makin g- 



number in a bag with crUmbs of bread : this took off 

 the end of the singed fibres, rendering them g-lossv, 



itri O / ~ 



and ready tor sale. 



Horn buttons are made sometimes with shanks fix- Horn but- 

 ed in them ; and others, called Sailors' Buttons, are tons * 

 fastened to the garment by sewing through four 

 holes made in them for that purpose and the sur- 

 face is concave in front, to preserve from wearing 

 the thread by which they are sewed. They are made 

 from cow-hoofs, by an ingenious process of pressing 

 them into heated iron moulds. The hoofs being boil- 

 ed in water till they become soft, are cut into paral- 

 lel slips by a cutting knife, which is a blade, with a 

 long handle at one end, and jointed to the bench by a 

 hook and eye at the opposite extremity. It then acts 

 like a lever in cutting the horn placed beneath its 

 edge. The slips being the width of the diameter of 

 the intended button, are cross-cut into small squares ; 

 and the angles of these being cut off, leaves octagon- 

 al pieces nearly the size of the intended buttons. 

 These are dyed black, by dipping them into a caul- 

 dron of water impregnated with logwood and cop- 

 peras. After being dried for a week, they are then 

 ready for pressing between the moulds, Fig. 6. p,. gi 

 which consist of two plates of iron a, a, united by the 

 joint of the handles b, b, to open and shut. Each 

 plate a, a has six, eight, or twelve small steel dies fas- 

 tened to it, each die containing the impression of 

 the intended buttons embossed in it. When shut 

 close, these impressions exactly correspond. The 

 two claws c, c enter corresponding cavities in the op- 

 posite plate, and insure them coming accurately toge- 

 ther. The presser, being provided with a great 

 number of different moulds, arranges them in an 

 oven or furnace, till they become heated somewhat 

 above the heat of boiling water. A piece of horn is 

 then placed upon each impression in the mould, 

 which is shut close, and the mould is placed in a 

 small screw press fixed to the work bench, which 

 holds the moulds shut together for a few minutes, 

 till the horn is warmed and softened by being be- 

 tween them. The mould is now carried to the press- Pressing 

 ing vice, Fig. 7. which consists of two massive vice - 

 cheeks A, A, united by the joint- piece B, and drawn Fig. 7. 

 together by the screw C. This vice is fixed in an 

 inclined position against a post D. The mould, with 

 the horn in it, is put between the cheeks A, A, very 

 near the centers B, and is pressed so violently by the 

 combined power of the screw and lever, that it in- 

 dents the horn into the exact pattern formed in the 

 moulds. The horn remains in this state for about 

 twenty minutes, till the mould is cool. Nine presses 

 are usually arranged round the stove, and these find 

 continual employment for one man. It is necessary 

 to keep the buttons in the vice till cold, otherwise 

 they would resume their original figure. 



The fashes, or edges of the buttons, which did not Filing. 

 enter into the cavities of the dies, are now clipped off 

 by shears, and are then filed smooth and round in a 

 lathe, consisting of a spindle like that in Fig. 1. and 

 another nearly the same, placed exactly in the same 

 line, b t opposite to the former. Both are turned 

 with the same velocity, by straps from two equal 

 foot- wheels on one axis. The ends of the twt spin- 

 dles come in contact, and have chucks, with a cavity 



