My custom press in the garage failed on a 500-page text block

I was finishing a quarter leather binding for a client's old law book when the main screw on my homemade press sheared clean off. It happened because I misjudged the glue thickness on the spine, creating way more pressure than the cast iron could take. I ended up clamping the book between two boards with every C-clamp I owned for 48 hours straight. Has anyone else had a press fail, and what did you rig up to save the project?

2 comments

2 Comments

piper_flores6915d ago

Oh man, that's the worst sound. I've definitely been there with a homemade press groaning in a scary way. In my case, it was an old wooden screw press where the crossbeam split. I had to use a car jack and a stack of concrete blocks in the driveway to finish pressing a big album. It's amazing what we end up rigging together when things go wrong.

lily23015d ago

A car jack and concrete blocks in the driveway? That is some serious MacGyver stuff. I can just picture the whole setup, praying the blocks don't shift. My worst was a C-clip that shot off like a bullet and put a dent in the drywall. The things we do to save a batch.