Book Safe

I've always wanted to make one of these, and nothing's more painful than an itch you don't scratch.

Edit: Holy crap! 50k views and 500 favorites? You guys must love book safes and/or hate Twilight! Thanks, everyone!

Step 1: Materials and Tools

- A hardcover book. The bigger, the better, but it NEEDS to be hardcover for strength.
- A knife or razor. You'll need this for various trimming and cutting jobs.
- Glue. You could probably get by with just white glue, but I used three different kinds.
- A brush for applying glue. Try using something you're willing to toss, not your nice painting brush
- (optional) A bandsaw. This makes cutting out the hollow much easier.
- (optional) Lining material. I used leftover art paper, but fabric and other such materials will work too.
- Weight. Anything will do, so long as it holds things down during gluing.

Step 2: Acquire a Book

Another author included "a book you don't value" in the list of materials and tools. I'd say this qualifies.

Step 3: Remove the Cover

You could just cut out the inside with a craft knife, but I decided to try the method where you remove the cover and use a bandsaw later. In this book, I found some kind of plastic webbing and surprisingly sticky glue that I had to cut with a sharp knife.

Step 4: Glue the Edges

You might want to do this before cutting the cover out, but I diluted some white glue with water at a ratio around 1:5. I painted it along the outer edges to try and keep the pages together. While it dries, leave some weight on top and go play some Minecraft in the meantime.

Step 5: Cut the Pocket

I used a bandsaw for this part, which gives you a cleaner cut than a craft knife would. But getting those 90° corners on the inside means you need to cut across and give yourself some room first.

In either case, a wall thickness of about 1/2 inch should be enough.

As usual, be sure to leave the blade guard no more than 1/4 inch above your material. Safety First!

Step 6: Glue the Back Cover Page

I used three different kinds of glue for this: white glue to attach it to the end cover page, (very smelly) epoxy to harden the insides, and some Gorilla Glue to patch up some spots along the edges I thought looked loose.

Give the whole thing an hour or two for the glue to set.

A note about Gorilla Glue: remember that it expands quite a bit. I used it sparingly here because of that.

Step 7: Glue and Trim the Front Cover Page

After gluing down the cover page, I had to cut open a window to the inside. Kind of papered over the thing.

Step 8: Line the Interior

That ugly inside just won't fly, so some lining is in order. I just happened to have some nice marbled red paper that needed using up.

Step 9: Admire and Use

And that should just about do it.

In retrospect, I should've picked a less conspicuous book. I wouldn't normally be caught dead (or even undead) with anything by Stephanie Meyer, but I suppose you could always say it's just a gag gift; it did only cost like two dollars at Goodwill.