Vintage Tools All Shaker Press Books products are carefully made by hand. Making them calls for precise cutting of paper, bookcloth and binder's board. Several large tools help make these cuts and my favorite is a 32 inch high J. Jacques & Sons board shear (sort of a big paper cutter) from the late 19th century whose original black finish is decorated with ornamental flourishes in gold paint. The cut materials are then assembled in a series of steps that may include folding, sewing, pasting and pressing. For pressing I still sometimes use paper covered bricks or iron but mostly sandwich the materials between pressing boards and stick them for a 'nip' into any one of my collection of vintage 'book presses,' all of them antiques, including the one in my logo. Finding thse tools has been an exercise in applied serendipity. Each tool has its tale which you can read by click on the link. Find out more about board shears, job backers, guillotione cutters, sewing frames and presses plus the original Shaker press from which this company got its name. Find out more about Shaker Press Books by clicking a link above. © 2000 Shaker Press Books