ANTAGONISTIC BOOKS: Curiosity - How to Make a Book That Can Only Be Opened Once

This is an instructable on how to make the second book in my Antagonistic Books set (the one that can only be opened once). This one is pretty easy (although it requires basic knowledge of welding). Besides that, theres only one hiccup that can happen, and I'll cover that.

Step 1: Materials

You'll need:

Two metal plates cut to the same size.
A Bi-Directional Ratchet
A place to weld
Pages to put inside your book
Rubber Cement
(potentially you may also need a wrench and a needle or awl)

Step 2: Cut Down the Metal

Sorry I don't have a lot of photos for this intractable. What you want to do here is cut down the front cover of your book so that there is space for the rachet to fit comfortably above it.

Optionally, if you want to make a more secure book, you may want to have a second ratchet on the bottom side of your book, if so, obviously you will have to cut down your front cover even more

Step 3: Weld the Metal to the Ratchet

This is all pretty self explanatory, but basically you will want to weld the ratchet body to your back cover, and then weld your front cover to the tool attachment point on your ratchet.

Step 4: Fix the Ratchet

here is the tricky part.
Many bi-directional ratchets use a plastic switching component. Welding can burn this component and turn the ratchet into a one way ratchet. Because you will want to fill in the inside of your un-closable book after you've welded it, if it has been turned into a one way ratchet, you won't be able to close it again after completing the inside, effectively turning your book from a once open to a never opened book.

The solution to this is to rotate the switch segment of the ratchet and pull it out at the same time. Because the plastic switch is stuck, the pin with the spring in the ratchet switch will move into a position that allows the whole switch to be removed. once it's out you should have a reasonable view of the switch. Take your awl or needle and place it on the switch side that isn't inset and gently tap on your awl or pin with your wrench/hammer/anything. Eventually the switch will break free of the melting and move again.

Push the spring and pin back into the switch component, and place it back into the ratchet. Everything should work fine again

Step 5: Figure Out the Insides

bind some papers together and put them inside the book. Make sure that the book is able to open freely with the papers where they are, and then glue them inside. Rubber cement works really well.

Finally, close the book, and weld the switch on the ratchet head closed so that it cannot be switched anymore.