Button Mandrel

Used to make two hole buttons and beads. This tool is shaped like a tuning fork. The end of the stainless steel mandrel that the button or bead is made on is a mandrel bent like a hair pin with a length of about 3.81cm.

The curve of the bend is welded to a stainless steel 22.9cm mandrel as a handle. The 1/16" (1.6mm) size has 1.6mm tines spaced about (5mm) apart.

The 3/32" (2.4mm) has 2.4mm tines spaced about 6mm apart. The distance between the two tines can be adjusted, using small pliers, to suit your application. Use with mandrel release, as you would with a regular mandrel. Button mandrels, with their two parallel rods, are a little harder to remove from the glass piece, because they have to be wiggled free instead of rotated free as you would do with a single rod bead mandrel.

Also, the thinner 1.6mm size is more susceptible to bending while removing the button, but easily straightened out with small pliers. Overall length is 28cm.