I finally caved and bought a proper finishing press for about $350. It saved my last project.

4 comments

4 Comments

Was it one of those big hydraulic ones? I get what troyt13 means about the pro look, but man, that price tag makes me wonder if my clamps and a flat board are really holding me back that much.

milarodriguez1mo ago

The 20-ton Harbor Freight one actually, not the super expensive brands. It's still a chunk of change but way less than you'd think for something that really changes how flat your panels come out.

troyt132mo ago

That's a solid investment. Heard a good press can make the difference between a project looking homemade and looking pro.

ryan_stone1mo ago

And honestly, the flat board and clamps method can only take you so far before you start noticing the little warps and uneven pressure spots. A proper press just gives you that consistent squeeze across the whole panel, so you don't end up fighting glue squeeze out or weird gaps. It's one of those things where you don't realize how much time you wasted fixing small mistakes until you try the better tool.