Tbh I used to skip pressing signatures overnight and it messed up my spines

For like a year I'd just stack them under a heavy book for maybe an hour before sewing. Last month I made a notebook with 15 signatures and the spine was all wavy. I finally started leaving them in my press for a full 12 hours after folding, and the difference is huge. The text block just sits so much flatter now. Anyone else have a specific pressing time they swear by?

3 comments

3 Comments

seth_wells492mo ago

Honestly that's wild to me, pressing for 12 hours seems like overkill lol. My whole thing is just getting the air out and setting the fold. A heavy book for a couple hours has always worked fine, even with thicker paper. Maybe your paper stock is just extra springy or something? I've done like 20 signature notebooks that came out flat with way less time under weight.

elizabetht5628d ago

Oh gosh, yeah, I feel that. In my experience, thicker paper really does fight back if you don't give it enough time under weight. I've found that even with thinner stuff, a couple hours just lets the paper remember its shape once you take the book off.

ross.angela2mo ago

Try pressing them overnight, it really does make a difference with thicker paper. I mean, I learned that the hard way too.