Book Press

Step 3 Make the press base.

The base of the press needs to be made next. I used a spare piece of 2X6 left over from my work bench.

You'll need to find the center of the wood. Next you'll need to find out where you need to put the center of the pipes. The easy way to do this is to take one of your plates and lay it down on the wooden base. Then take the 3/4" pipes and place them on either side of the plates. Give yourself some space between the plates and pipes. 1/4" to 1/2" should be good. You don't need to worry about the pipe flanges, because we'll mount them under the base. It is a bit more difficult, but it makes a more compact press design.

Drill holes so the 3/4" pipe just about fits through the base. It'll be about 1".

Now the hardest part - you need to cut pockets into the bottom of the base for the flanges to fit into. I did mine with a router, but it doesn't need to be pretty - you just need to allow the flanges to fit in and lay flat. (That, and mine aren't that pretty - the camera hides my many gouges and screw ups.) Depth isn't that important - as long as you can get a nut and washer in. (Or use furniture pads to raise the base up a bit - that's what I did.)

Once you have the pockets made, you are done with the base - this was the hardest part. Good job!