I made a Book Press

This thing really stretched the limits of what my Forge can do.

2' thick material? Check.

23.5' long 1' thick wood? Check (BARELY FIT, and only engraved because it wasn’t wide enough for the axis arm wheels to hit as they moved forward!).

Engraving around the circumference of a round object? Check.

Using highly figured woods? Check.

Using the Forge to augment my router by making acrylic templates? Check.

Needing to get sub-milimeter accuracy for repeat engraved areas? Check. (Was very hard to do though…)

Making knobs by inlaying washers and nuts into laminated proofgrade? Check.

Using the Forge to accomplish complicated inlay? Check.

Want to see the journey of building it? Head on over to the video at the link below:

Click here to see the Video of the Journey!

I am getting into bookbinding, and I needed a press (I was inspired by Stopan to get into bookbinding- go check out his channel it’s AMAZING Click here for Stopan’s channel! ).

So I designed one that combines a press, a finishing press, a sewing frame, and a plough. I am still making the plough sled, but this machine already has the infrastructure to support it and guide it along.

It is made with figured walnut and curly maple, with copper inlay. Half of my family heritage is Scottish (Leith!) and so I went with a somewhat Celtic motif. The press includes hidden magnets on each side to hold sewing tools. The sewing press can be used with cords or bands, and although I had no bands to show in the video, that’s what the needle ends are for, and the smaller slots.

This was a REALLY fun project, and I can’t wait to make some books with it!