Introduction: 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.
2 People Made This Project!
drewgorman made it!- dancersewereater made it!
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43 Comments
6 years ago
Thanks so much! I will make this! Such a neat idea!
7 years ago
lol most people seem not to like Twilight...still havent read it, plan to though. I liked the movies
9 years ago on Introduction
A recessed magnetic catch in the pages and metal on the cover helps keep it closed and contents from falling out.
Reply 8 years ago
ahhh smart!!!
9 years ago
Smart no one will pick up that book I'll use twilight
9 years ago on Introduction
very interesting.couldn't you also use velcro to keep this this shut?
Reply 9 years ago on Introduction
That's not a half bad idea... I may try it! :-)
9 years ago on Introduction
I thought about making one of these too. I had an idea to add a magnetic catch so it wouldn't open on it's own and spill whatever I was storing in it. You turned out a nice finished product. It looks like it could have been commercially done.
Reply 9 years ago on Introduction
This kind of thing is usually sandwiched between other books to keep it closed, but a catch would be a great idea. Everyone else reading this and thinking of making one, YOU ARE NOW REQUIRED TO TRY THIS.
Reply 9 years ago on Introduction
Again, not trying to spam, but and example... https://www.etsy.com/listing/123391291/hollow-book-safe-with-magnetetic-closure. I use old, wrecked hard drives and rob the very strong magnets from them.
It seems to work best using the dust jacket to hide the bits of Altoids tin I use for the metal attached to the inside of the cover. Then these magnets are so strong you can still have about 6 pages of the book between the dust jacket and cutout... This helps with the illusion that it is still a real book that hasn't been tampered with.
9 years ago on Introduction
Scalemate..? :D
9 years ago on Introduction
Good idea using a book that no one smart enough to pick a lock will ever pick up.
9 years ago on Step 9
I made a hollow book back in grade school. I used a Miriam Webster Dictionary though. I think I still have it somewhere. My project was done with an Exacto knife rather than a band saw. The innards weren't nearly so straight and neat as yours naturally. I didn't cut away the paper on the bound side as you did. I left about a half inch on all four sides. Not cutting the bound side paper didn't seem to cause too many issues but I can see why you'd want to do that if you can. I used only one type of glue, Elmer's White Glue, both around the edges and on the inside. I admit that I did feel special having a secret hiding place for those things that are precious to a kid. I've been tempted to try this again now that I am, well, much older.
9 years ago on Introduction
Will this work with an E Reader? I haven't touched a real book in years... lol
Great job of this. I did something like this when I proposed to my wife. She told me she loved Shakspears Sonnets so I bought a book of them, cut a ring shaped hole in the middle of the pages in the middle of th book and glued them together, then I wrote a corny poem asking her to marry me and glued that in as a page. Stuck a book mark in it and put it on my coffee table. Sure enough she asked me about it when she saw it and I said "yeah, I bought it to see if I liked them too... I marked my favorite for you" she freaked when she read my poem and saw the ring!
Reply 9 years ago on Introduction
That's brilliant!! Great story.
9 years ago on Step 9
A very good (and very entertaining) instructable. I'm going to make this one. Thanks!
9 years ago on Introduction
yeah i would cut a hole in a twilight book too lol.
9 years ago on Step 9
This is amazing. Im gonna make this
9 years ago
Love the idea of destroying this book. Might just do that step and call it done.
9 years ago on Introduction
The idea behind this nice book safe is that burglars are generally not culture-oriented. But what if one is so unlucky to come accross a burglar with literary interests?