Question about my mentor's 1978 press and how he prepped signatures

My old mentor in Savannah said he never pressed a signature flat before sewing, he'd just tap the spine and let the thread do the work, and that one comment made me rethink how I've been doing it for 12 years. Has anyone else tried skipping the nipping press on smaller books, or does that only work with certain paper weights?

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danielhenderson9d ago

I was the same way for years, always cranked everything down flat in the press before sewing. Then I tried my mentor's trick on a batch of small chapbooks with 80lb text and just tapped the spine square and started sewing. The thread pulled everything tight on its own and the spines came out cleaner than my pressed ones. On heavier paper though, like a 100lb cover stock, I still nip it a bit or the sections want to slide around. So yeah, it works, but the paper weight and how many pages per signature really change the game. I have not touched the press for anything under 90lb since.

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