I’m on a roll with the journal that I’ve been working on for weeks now. After the major gluing screw ups I tossed the old one and started fresh- with a new chunk of hide and new patches… I decided to add a few eyelets to the cover to further Frankenstein the patches and I’m using a brown thread to stitch them on. So far it’s working well. I like the look of the whole thing. It’s coming along well along with the rest of the order. All the paper has been printed and cut. Tomorrow will be all about stitching up the small books and getting the local printer to print the pages. I really wish I had gone for the larger printer, ah well, the one I have does most of what I need to have it do.

I forgot to post pics of the press that Allen, my brother, made for me, based on the other press. He added a lot of strength to this one, I can crank it down until I can’t tighten it any more and get a really great press out of it. I’ve got a few book blanks set up in it to show what it can do and stress it a bit. It’s got 7.5 inches of upward/downward movement a stainless steel screw, steel support rods, and an 8×11 inch bed.
I can’t wait to putt some hedgehogs in it tomorrow.

Allen has 2 more almost finished (with Square corners on the press plate) and I can take orders on it asap. They will be $90+ shipping, with a few up on eBay.