Introduction: Ipod or Mp3 Player Hardcase From a Book
recycle a used/useless book into an a functional hard case for an ipod or other mp3 player!
Step 1: Gather Your Tools and Materials
you need:
an old book, preferably hardcover, thick enough to accomodate your music player,
some white glue, elmers or equivalent,
something to hold the glue in (film canister)
a small brush to spread glue,
a box cutter, exacto knife, or other sharp tool
drill or drill press
small magnets (2)
small piece of steel (must be thin and magnetic)
straight edge or ruler
spray paint (optional)
masking tape (optional)
Step 2: Glue Up Your Book
take your book and find what pages you want to save. even if you do not want to save any, at least save one for use in a later step. mix up a glue solution of around half glue and half water. put one of those clear plastic page protectors into the book where you want to save pages. then take the glue solution and paint it onto the outside of the book. dont use too much or the pages will warp and itll look like you got water on it. allow it to dry under something thats moderately heavy.
Step 3: Start Cutting
take your page protector out of the book and open to the first glued page. take out your mp3 player/ ipod and lay it on the page. trace around it. if you want to line the hole with something soft at the end cut a little outside of the line. use your boxcutter to cut a hole using the line you drew earlier as a guide. make sure you are using a new, sharp clean blade, or it will take forever. you can carefully use a little force and cut a lot of pages at once. it only took me like ten minutes to cut out a hole for my mp3 player. if you want, go ahead and cut a spot to store some ear buds, like i did.
Step 4: Add Magnets.
take the drill or drill press and drill into an unused part of the glued section of the book. insert a magnet and glue it in. do the same thin again on another part of the book. then on the inside cover glue the two thin pieces of metal in spots that match up with the magnets in the glued section of the book.
Step 5: Clean It Up
test fit the mp3 player. if it fits well, coat the inside of the hole with the glue solution. then apply a very thin coat of the glue solution to the top of the glued section and put one of the unglued pages on it. close book tightly. when its dry, open the book and cut through the page that you just glued to open up the hole that you cut in the book. this is to cover up any marks that you made on the book or any cutting errors, as well as the magnets.
Step 6: Paint
this is an optional step to make the book look cooler. i used a readers digest book of condensed books, so i painted it. if you want people to see what book you used, dont paint it. mask up the sides of the pages, and the front and back covers, and paint the spine. when dry, remove masking tape, then mask the spine and paint the covers. when the paint is dry, remove the tape and your done. i did mine with a flat black spine and hammered finish grey covers.
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58 Comments
6 years ago
coool as!
7 years ago
very nice
8 years ago
very nice...this can be used to keep any thing safe...
11 years ago on Introduction
Cool. Could you line the inside with tape or something?
11 years ago on Introduction
should have made ipod book deck with headphone jack to make it look like youre reading during class
Reply 11 years ago on Introduction
wow thats a really good idea wish i thought of that
Reply 11 years ago on Introduction
it takes some wiring and i have a prototype circut.not made it real life though.havent tested it out yet
11 years ago on Introduction
muito bom, aqui no Brasil é bom pra esconder dos bandidos!
11 years ago on Step 5
what should I do if it doesn't fit... I have spent hours scraping the sides away with an exacto knife t000o try to make it wider but that's not really working too well. WHAT DO I DO!?!?!?! thanks.
Reply 11 years ago on Step 5
if you have a sharp blade you should be able to just slice into the book and widen the hole. an exacto knife may not be sturdy enough for this, try a utility knife/box cutter or one of those snap off blade type razors.
Reply 11 years ago on Step 5
I have tried that but the knife keeps slipping into the center of the book
15 years ago on Introduction
*yawn* boring
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
pfffffft. I thought it was cool.
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
It is. Don't worry, there are some people that appreciate this Instructable.
15 years ago on Introduction
Finally! a creative use for all those free Bibles and such people are always throwing around!! Great instructable, im going to start making one right away!
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
Don't use a bible. It is disrespectful and a religious person might get angry at you. If you need a book, use an old novel or something. Good instructable by the way.
12 years ago on Introduction
I've been making a couple of these for friends,and I've found a few pointers.
1)If you're using water based glue,press it down with more books.
2)Dull blades cause the page to rip.
3)Ripping out the pages can also tear the page where you don't want it torn,causing a hole in the side of your book.
4)Boxcutters are neater,dremels are faster.
5)Lining the sides and inside with hobby putty lets you sand them until smooth.
Just some pointers.
13 years ago on Step 3
I just used the dremel rotary tool.
15 years ago on Step 3
when i am cutting i could only cut a few pages at once and if i put more pressure the pages would rip. any advice?
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
I had the same problem the other night when I was working on this
https://www.instructables.com/id/Literary-Clock/
I just pressed my book to the workbench with clamps and kept on cutting, I bet I did about 64 cuts until the whole square was cut out. I cut all four sides a few times and then ripped out about 10-15 pages and the repeated that until my hole was all the way through the book.