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My press board cracked on a custom order for the library in Springfield | Bookbinders - Vivisector

My press board cracked on a custom order for the library in Springfield

I was finishing up a set of six leather-bound ledgers for the local history room, and my old wooden press board gave out with a loud snap right in the middle of the final pressing. I had to quickly cut a new board from some scrap maple I had in the garage, but it wasn't perfectly flat. Has anyone else had a press board fail, and what's your go-to material for a quick replacement that won't warp?

4 comments

4 Comments

nathankim7mo ago

Man, that's the worst sound. I actually used to grab whatever plywood was in the shop for a quick fix. Learned the hard way that it almost always cups. Now I keep a couple of pieces of flat, sanded MDF on hand just for this. It's not fancy, but it stays dead flat under pressure and you can trim it to size in two minutes.

nancy3267mo ago

MDF is a solid choice for staying flat. I had a press board split on me last year during a big job. I ended up using a thick piece of acrylic I had left over from another project. It was perfectly smooth and didn't warp at all with the moisture. The only downside is it can be a bit slick, so you have to watch the leather doesn't slide. It's been my backup piece ever since.

wilson.olivia7mo ago

My grandpa swore by old marble slabs from a salvage yard, they never warp.

zara_sanchez5mo ago

Old marble is legit for keeping things flat. My uncle had a chunk of granite countertop he used for years as a pressing board. It's wild how older materials just hold up way better than most of what we buy now. I've noticed this pattern with a lot of stuff older tools, old furniture, even older cars. They were built to last through the decades, not just a few years. Feels like everything now is made to break so you gotta buy a new one. You gotta respect the stuff that's been around long enough to prove itself.