Top Level : Harvesting : Mussels : Shell Buttons : Tools for Shellwork

Easley Cutting Button Blanks
Leonard Easly, of Meredosia, Illinois cuts button blanks from freshwater mussel shell at the 1999 Meredosia Riverfest, Meredosia, Illinois. He is turning a shell "pusher", which pushes the shell into the saw. Note the jets of water spraying on the shell.

Photograph by Bonnie W. Styles, Illinois State Museum.