I paid $85 for a cast iron book press off Craigslist in Dayton and it fixed my wavy text blocks
For about two years I was pressing my text blocks under a stack of old college textbooks and a cutting board. It worked okay for thin books but anything past an inch came out with a slight curve at the spine, and the case would never sit flat against the block. I kept blaming my sewing and redoing boards, which wasted a lot of board and glue. Then a retired printer in Dayton sold me a beat up cast iron standing press for $85, honestly I almost passed on it since it weighed a ton and needed rust cleanup. I wire brushed it, oiled the screw, and the very first block I pressed under it came out dead flat, night and day difference. The only catch is it takes up a corner of my shop and you have to crank it down even, but I would pay that again in a heartbeat. So my question is, how long do you all leave a block in the press before you case it in? I have been doing overnight but I am not sure if that is overkill.