DIY Book Press on the Cheap!

[@wolfsingleton]

Put a heavy weight in the middle when you're ready to release. It will hold it flat as you loosen all the wing nuts, then you can remove the weight and raise the board evenly every time.

[@CrazyTKnottyYarn]

Love the Tardis on the bookshelf behind you :D Now my husband is off to find the wood to make me a book press. Good thing he has a ton of 3/4 inch plywood and carriage bolts already. Should have a new book press in about an hour. *happy dance commences* off to coffee prep my pages...........................

[@minabekker]

Super cool! I am gonna build one of those to paint on my Debut novel ❤

[@elisabethhathorn1656]

This is a great idea, could be a flower press, too!

[@deetsak]

This is brill!! I was agonising where I should be getting these boards, everybody else was saying yeah you could do it simply yourself with things lying around but never actually say where you could get those boards! Thanks!

[@jimflack9462]

I love finding ways to do things on the cheap! Great idea , Mike! You can the leftover foam for applying paint and ink through stencils when journaling. Nothing wasted!! 😊

[@suzannehanlon2941]

Great video Mike. I made one that started out as a flower press. I did find that drilling slightly larger holes for the bolts was very helpful for opening and closing so that it didn't bind up as bad.

[@annbrockman3086]

Love the embossing idea. I would probably use this more for pressing flowers.

[@lizkb5473]

Thanks Mike, I used the same bamboo boards and used clamps for my press. One thing that happened to me was there must have been an oil on the bamboo and carried over to some paper I was pressing. I now make sure I have a blank sheet of paper next to the bamboo. Interesting embossing technique.

[@meganbrain8870]

Put wax paper between your book and the board? Commenting years too late...

[@abandonedsunnah3634]

A mazing video, thank you so much for this descovery, it is a really rich video.

[@bettejacob5410]

You look rather handy with that scaple. What a great idea for the book press.

[@SarahBloom]

This is awesome, thank you for sharing! I'm looking into making something similar for myself, this was so helpful!

[@rochestermanagementservice6082]

Wonderful! Thanks, Mike! So helpful! From Cheryl in AZ

[@lasinmt106]

Mike really enjoyed your demonstration video today. I was in search of making a padding press when this one popped up. It's similar to those made as DIY padding presses but loved your showing the end product of one of Tim Holtz dies cuts used as an embossing design for a cover. Really how cool is that !!!! Ok very cool. I have been playing with ways to personalize and decorate mini note pads and now must attempt to see how this would work with faux leathers glued down to strong book cover stock. Also how it would work with self adhesive flocking material to lay down cold foiling too. Lots of interesting ideas going off in my head here and must make a note of them before they float away. But thank you for sharing.

[@SimpLeeBeth]

Very cool! I've never seen someone use a press for an embossed cover

[@nmaybz23]

A great DIY! Glad I was able to locate this video! TYVM 🫶

[@jasann100]

Thanks for the video, my late husband made me a similar press for flower pressing, I have still got it, so have found another use for it, thanks to you! Love all your videos, they are very informative and easy to follow, thanks again , and a big Hi to Ian and mr Bentley. 🇦🇺😉👍🏻

[@darkangel59713]

Nice video! Love the emboss print too! Constantly using huge books to flatten out papers and such and am thinking of doing a DIY hardback. This would be fantastic! Only one addition I'd make to it - some little rubber feet or maybe countersink the holes so the bolt heads didn't scratch any tables. Thanks again for the inspiration!

[@dorothyradley9391]

Excellent tutorial for a book press on the cheap, Mike. Another idea is to look for someone selling a second hand large flower press on eBay. Can't wait to see the books you make with it. Hugs to all. xx

[@SanSeriffe]

One thing to watch out for is to keep the drill vertical. Any which stray out at an angle will make the press hard to use, or even impossible. Simple way to make sure the drill is vertical is to use the hole in a cotton reel or something similar to serve as a guide,

[@dawnkarasaki6172]

thank you Mike, wonderful little project,

[@Margaritabelle]

Great Idea!! I have bought some of the non-stick cooking sheets to line the foam, I got mine from Lidl, works great and are cleanable. TFS

[@desireestewart-jordan9630]

So clever! Totally fantastic! Thank you for sharing 😊

[@lesleyfoster7359]

Love it. X innovation at its best.

[@activeincolorado]

Excellent! I did the same thing a few years ago and never even thought to use wooden cutting boards! brilliant idea. I look forward to seeing how you layered up your materials to get the embossed image!

[@FabricPaperAndBeads]

I would think that one of those electric knives that we used to use on turkeys at thanksgiving would be a good option for cutting the foam. Great video! I plan to make my own book press soon.

[@marymckevitt4712]

Great idea Mike

[@doreenb1837]

Mike, you are so smart and talented. tfs

[@LynneWilliams101]

Very cool - impressive cover!

[@cricketbee7823]

Thank-you for SHARING. Great idea. 👍😃💕☕

[@jenniferjones542]

Hello. Mike. I'm from Northeast Texas. I also love to do junk journals and book binding. My husband made me a book press also. I just wanted to let you know that a binding/book cradle is also pretty nice to have when doing junk journals. My husband made me one of those also and it's a real lifesaver. By the way your videos are awasome. Hugs

[@englishsweetpea]

Hi Jennifer. Could you tell me how you use the book cradle? My husband bought me a book press and cradle, but I don't know how I'm meant to use the book cradle. Thank you for any light you can shine on it for me. :-)

[@jenniferjones542]

Holly Budden. This is how I use mine. When I make junk journals I will make my signatures. After I make my signatures and I'm ready to punch the holes I open up the signatures and I place the spine of the signature into the grove of the book cradle. Then I take my awl and I punch my holes into the spine of the signature. All the book cradle is for is the help you punch the holes perfectly on the spine part of the signature.

[@englishsweetpea]

Jennifer Jones thank you. That's really helpful. 🙂

[@MelaniesShabbyChic]

Brilliant!!! Thanks so much for sharing this, I'm definitely going to make one as well.

[@bettejacob5410]

Mike did you put the chipboard down then the umbrella man and then the book cloth? Show us how you layered it before you put it in the press. Bette

[@Vikiwastestime]

Yes, please? Did you use embossing paste? Need more details about this part of the tutorial. You're the best!

[@RavenStealstheNight]

Yes. I'm intrigued as to how you do this

[@natural09100]

very cool 😎👍

[@tinlidtoo6615]

My fabric store uses an electric carving knife, like the ones you use for food, to cut thick foam like that. Works great 👍😊

[@debsmclaughlin6521]

Great job! Cool embossed image! Your hair looks fab too! X

[@34purplepower]

Great idea, thank you for sharing.

[@crosezrose]

Thanks Mike! I've often wanted to make this for pressing flowers. Some pressing boards here in America can be up to $50!

[@55418und]

Cutting boards. I never gave those a thought, thankfully I tuned in. I'm just starting leather bookbinding. I retired , 76 years old.

[@angeladrake7595]

Great idea!

[@CraftyKarin]

Thanks for this! I'm going to find some nice & cheap cutting boards to do this too. It does seem that fully threaded carriage bolts are hard to come by around here (Netherlands), most are only partially threaded.

[@cdsullivan5403]

Excellent!!!

[@coloradoblueskiesboutique7720]

Made something similar. Never thought to use it this way. I use it to glue pages and cloth to pages “old book style”.TFS🌹💕

[@ChattylaineCreates]

Well that worked great and very simple to do. 😊tfs

[@doreenbailey6130]

never quite sure what the purpose of the book press was ... TFS Love the umbrella man too

[@bonnerdebbie]

Great job!

[@lauragreggain7767]

Very practical!

[@LeftySteffie]

Can u show please how you did the embossing part?

[@westzed23]

Great tutorial. In stead of plastic wrap or cling film, parchment paper for cooking might be easier because you can cut it to fit and it would also stop glue from bleeding through.

[@Kraftydesignsbyopie]

Good idea for my future book press because here in the usa they are $50.00 to $300.00 or more which is outrages... Thanks

[@pjd2709]

For cutting the foam, I use an electric knife, you can get one from the secondhand shop!

[@lFranklynne3296]

Great idea, love this - thanks for sharing and hugs to Mr Bentley :)

[@Deeply-k3t]

Clever!!

[@DenisePoole-Closet-Crafts]

Excellent, Thank you😀

[@debbievignola8275]

Great idea Mike. tfs =^^=

[@loisseeley5039]

Mike, just curious, I use an electric carving knife to cut foam, even use it to cut styrofoam!!Works for me.Liked the video.

[@murphan25]

Questions: Would it be a good idea to super glue the washers onto the boards? Could you also super glue the carriage bolts to the bottom board (after the washers)?

[@MikeDeakinArt]

Yes… good idea

[@judithb559]

I found that an electric carving knife works well too.

[@suewight7621]

An electric knife works really well for cutting foam

[@ZeeCeeCreations]

Well done Mike! Hugs Marsha

[@veggietuneslover]

🤣🤣🤣🤣 talking to the dog like I talk to my cats. *meow* No! You have food AND water!!" *meow* "EXCUSE ME?! Language!"

[@angelburnett-ashwin3851]

Why did we need the foam.? CN someone say why? I've others used to make paper and they don't use foam. Just wondering for someone just starting

[@MikeDeakinArt]

The foam is used to cushion and mould if you’re creating textured outer cover boards.

[@angelburnett-ashwin3851]

@@MikeDeakinArt ahhh thank you so much. Such a great video.

[@victoriavandeven5756]

Will the wood warp, to press wet homemade paper?

[@MikeDeakinArt]

It’s not made for making paper.

[@fatmadagli5502]

🤩Thank you :)(:

[@pattyatrumdycreations134]

Well, how cool was that?

[@EvaVilla-pm5mv]

Very TFS

[@pesto12601]

So.. you just took fabric and glued it to an embossed cardstock and stuck it in the press?

[@tikonc]

you could have used the press to aqueeze the foam and then cut it

[@iknownothing-49]

Thanks. Thanks. Thanks,

[@laurachurch5034]

Funny thing, now I feel like watching the Sweeny Todd movie. ;^)

[@heehaw8401]

An electric knife works well on foam!

[@manicamanico1579]

would this be better than thermal binding machines?

[@MikeDeakinArt]

I don’t have one so couldn’t comment!

[@jadebethj4807]

I really need a book press and this is so easy. but now i need a drill lol dammitt

[@loisseeley5039]

Just another comment, You cutting the foam and comparing it too FAT really made me laugh. I worked in an operating room (theater over there in the UK!) for many years and your comment about cutting with the scalpel must feel very similar!LOL, I hope you were not referring to the person who was getting the FAT cut, about feeling it! Actually cutting through FAT is easier then cutting through soft foam. Yes, this getting a little macabre!!!!LOL