Pro tip: that $180 brass knocking-down block from England was the best money I ever spent in this craft

Terry Dixon · 2026-10-09T10:45:05.516374+00:00

I bind mostly journals and small runs of hardcovers on my kitchen table in Akron, so I do not have room for a real press setup. Two winters back I dropped $180 on a brass knocking-down block from a toolmaker in Sheffield, and I almost sent it back because the shipping alone was $40. Turns out I use it on almost every single project now, mostly for tapping down signatures after sewing and flattening spine glue before it fully sets. Before I had it, I was using a scrap of oak and a hammer, and I crushed the head and tail of more signatures than I want to admit. The brass does not dent the paper and it holds heat from my hands just enough that glue releases clean. If you are working without a standing press, this is the one tool I would tell you to save up for. Anyone here use something similar, or did you build your own?

Librear

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Pro tip: that $180 brass knocking-down block from England was the best money I ever spent in this craft | Bookbinders - Librear