Last Tuesday my book press hinge broke and I fixed it with a paperclip

I was pressing a stack of signatures for a journal and the hinge on my old press just snapped clean off. Found a heavy duty paperclip in my desk drawer and bent it into a temporary pin to hold the lever arm in place. Has anyone else had to MacGyver their equipment to get through a project?

2 comments

2 Comments

fisher.taylor9d ago

Paperclips are basically bookbinding duct tape at this point lol. Had the same thing happen with an old nipping press a few years back. Bent the clip into a U shape and slid it through the hinge hole, then crimped the ends with pliers so it wouldn't slip out while pressing. Worked fine for like six months before I finally got around to ordering a proper pin.

river_jones9d ago

Bent a paperclip into a flat L-shape once for a screw post that stripped out on a stack of signatures. Did the trick for about a year before the clip finally snapped. Whatever gets the job done, right?