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I used to press signatures under a stack of old textbooks, then I got a $40 book press off Craigslist
For years I was pressing my folded signatures under whatever heavy stuff I could pile on my workbench. Old yearbooks, a cinder block, my kid's dumbbells, all stacked up crooked on a board. The folds never came out flat, the spines were lumpy, and I was always re-folding stuff that popped back open. Then about 8 months ago I found a real cast iron book press on Craigslist for $40 from a retired printer in Worcester. The difference is honestly kind of embarrassing. One hour in that press and my signatures are dead flat, bone folder barely even needed. Now I press overnight before every sew and my spines are square for once. The only bad part is the thing weighs like 60 pounds and I have to leave it on the floor. Anyone else pressing with makeshift weight, or did you all bite the bullet on a real press way earlier than me?
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miles_jackson913d ago
Wait, you were using a cinder block? That's wild to me. I'd be way too nervous about the whole stack tipping over and crushing my signatures or busting a toe. How did you even keep that thing steady on a board without it sliding around every time you bumped the bench?
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