Book Press Paint Schemes

I'm almost ready to take book repair to the next level, and recently bought a couple of book presses. Unfortunately, one of them had been used years ago as a flower press, and it's been stored in a chicken coop since then. To put it nicely, it now bears the antique patina typical of cast iron...ok, some people call it rust. Other than that, it works great! I'd like to repaint it, and I'm looking for ideas. Anyone have photos of great looking old book presses, or suggestions for how they should look?

From Library

That is a great looking press as it is. Black is the color it was originally. I am saying that because of the spot of unworn paint just in front of the screw. The best thing to reproduce that finish that I know of is high temperature stove paint and stove polish. A fireplace store would be a good place to find it.

Scrape off what rust you can, paint with rustoleum primer, paint with the stove paint, and then polish. You might experiment on small areas underneath it to get the look you want.

To clean up the screw threads get a brass parts cleaning brush from an auto parts store and scrape the flaking rust off them. Tilt the press on its side; you don’t want too much grit to get into the bearing case at the bottom of the screw. Once the threads are reasonably clean lubricate them with a dry lubricant that will not catch dust. Beeswax is my first thought but I am not sure how to apply it. On the machinery I have restored appearance is not important, I would just use axle grease on the threads and run the screw up and down to distribute it evenly. However when not used for several days the grease gathers a furry coating of dust that is not at all attractive.

To protect the books I would not put anything on the work surfaces of the press.

If one were looking for an old book press where might be a good place to find one?

eBay is a start.

My dad used to have one of those; I've been wondering where it got to. It's probably in the same state as this one.

I saw one on Ebay which was at $99 with a $100 shipping charge. Seems a bit steep.

Shipping cast iron will not be cheap.

I think I'd best haunt the flea markets and see if something turns up.

Mi book press was just as rusty as yours. A friend of mine had it cleaned and repainted professionally:


The grayish film is dust.

Thanks TLCrawford! Very detailed suggestions. Moibibliomanic's professionally painted press looks great, but I think I can do it myself now.

Not wanting to pay shipping for a book press on eBay (and also wanting to try it out mechanically first), I searched for quite awhile at flea markets, antique shops, and bookstores. I only found a few and all were more than $250. I finally posted a photo of a book press on the "wanted" section of my local Craigslist, and titled it simply "One of these things." The guy that sold it to me didn't know it was a book press--his father had used it years ago as a flower press.

You know, if what you want is just a press, and you're not concerned with it being a big ol' cast iron one, take a look at this.

Thank you for all the tips. It turned out better than I expected.

From Library

Oooh, it's lovely!

I thought the old patina was charming, but this is beautiful!

Darn, I want one. Off to the flea market.

Nice. Great work on the detailing.

Bravo! Love the gold trim!

Thanks! Now the hard part of learning how to use it...

Ummm....

Turn the handle clockwise to increase pressure; counter-clockwise to release pressure.

It's also makes an excellent nut cracker (and the instructions are the same!).

I have only belatedly noticed this thread. I have two book presses that I have used for rebinding - although I don't have time for that now. The main thing when using a press for binding is to be aware of how great a pressure they can exert. The best tip I can give is not to exert excess pressure when holding a binding in the press while glue dries. Binders initially nip the binding then back off the pressure just to hold the binding lightly. If you exert too much pressure you will extrude glue through paper, cloth or leather and leave the whole thing looking a terrible mess.

If you don't want to wait for one to turn up at a flea market or antique store, Restoration Hardware is now offering a reproduction:

http://www.restorationhardware.com/rh/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod...

Takes some of the fun out of the search, though.

Since this topic came up when I was searching for information on restoring an old book press bookpress, I thought I would offer this;

I bought an old cast-iron and brass press from an antique dealer here in Aus. It cost AUS$350, which is a great price for the size (it is the bigger model) and type. It was in a very dusty and rusty state. Since this will be a working bookpress, I needed it to be in a clean state. I did not want to re-paint it, however, just to restore it.

The brass parts had about 100 years of dirt on them, and after many, many hours of cleaning I have most of them looking much better, (although not yet 100%). Everyone knows how to clean brass anyway, so I will talk about cleaning the plates.

I used a petrolleum-jelly type furniture polish and a very fine sand-paper. (Petroleum jelly would be just as good - it is cheap anyway!) Wipe the polish on the plate thickly. Using a circular motion, rub the VERY FINE sandpaper over the polish. As you clean off the rust you will feel more 'give' as you rub the paper over the plates. Wear old clothes, as you will get the rusty stuff all over you. Clean it down with soft cloths (Old flanelette sheets are best).

You may need to repeat this a few times to get the plates really spotless and smooth, but it will get the plates back to almost new condition. The top plate (the underside) should not need quite as much work. Feel it as you go - your fingertips are the best tool for checking!

You can also use the same method to clean the rest of the press, but DON'T use sandpaper on any brass fittings. It will take a long time and lots of elbow grease, but you should be able to restore the press beautifully.

Hi there - you posted this ages ago. I been researching how to paint a book press. Could you tell me what you painted your with - both the black and the gold. It looks good!

Thanks

Still no luck acquiring a book press. I've found a few on display at various places and am always told they're not for sale at any price.

They are also very expensive to ship because of the weight.

You might look to the forums for letterpress printers. Birarpress.org has some sale/want/trade listings and you can search for things by location.

Sometimes these are called book presses. They are also known by other names. I want to say "copy press" but I would have to look that up to be sure. There were some methods of creating facsimiles of documents with chemicals and pressure.

James

I haven't been on this thread in years, but thought I'd share my latest find. At a street market antiques fair, one of the dealers offered a very ornate cast iron bookpress for a bargain price. Couldn't pass it up. I have no idea how old it is or who made it, but it's quite unusual. Old German lettering isn't a brand name--only says it's protected by law. A mystery.

From Library

From Library

Often what we call "book presses" were originally "copy presses." It was possible to make a duplicate of a document. These pages from an old manual of office processes describes how these were made with a "screw press."



I would imagine that the more ornate, the more likely that its original use was as a copy press in an office rather than a press used for book binding.

James

Wow! I'm impressed. I've been looking for a bookpress for years. Everytime I find one it's either a complete wreck, they want an outrageous price for it, or both.

>28 Keeline:
Thanks for this information. That makes sense. It doesn't open as much as my "plain" bookpress and the elderly gentlemen that sold it was telling me it was for printing (through a bit of a language barrier). That should make it easier to do a little research on the history. There were even a few of what might be blotting sheets still in the press.