Bonuts wrote:It took me about 6 hours to cut the pages, and about another 6 to glue them. Since I have yet to get the book I wanted to cut up, I'll just post how I did it.
Ok, Since you posted your method, I'll post mine.
Get a small piece of sheet metal and put it between the back cover and the last page of the book. Use a C-clamp to clamp it down to a table. Drill holes using an ordinary drill at each corner of the hole you're going to "install". Use a small bit at first and gradually increse the size until the holes are about as big as a pencil. Go slowly with this. It should only take about 10 minutes to have all the holes drilled to the proper size.
Use a sharp blade to begin cutting the pages (I used an ordinary razor blade type box cutter.) Since the book is clamped down you should be able to cut about 10-15 pages at a time. Just put the tip of the blade into one of the holes and drag the blade along the line you drew to the next hole. After you cut all four sides, unclamp, remove the inner part of the pages, flip the cut pages back and reclamp and repeat the process making sure the pages are always straight. And be sure to use a new blade for this, an old dull blade will just rip the pages. You may also need to replace the blade after a while. Nothing dulls a blade quicker than cutting paper.
Ok, You should now have a book with a hole in it. Now take the piece of sheet metal (It shoiuld be about twice the size of the book.) Using one of the cut out pieces of the pages draw the outline in the center of the sheet metal. Now measure the depth of the hole in your book. Then measure the depth on the sheet metal and make a mark on the metal the same distance from each side of the box you already have on it. Then add another half inch or so to each one of those marks. After this is done you should have something that looks kind of like the Red Cross symbol with lines near the ends of the "spokes" that stick out.
Cut the pattern out and bend the sheet metal along the lines to form a "box" and then bend the top of the sides of the box along the other line, creating a "lip" that runs around the outside of the box.
Forgive the ASCII but it's the best way I can show an example of the folds in the sheet metal. Ignore the periods, they're just there to keep the ASCII straight. This is a side view.
### <--Lip of box
.....#
.....#
.....### <--Bottom of box
Bend all four sides like the diagram above. Afterwards your metal box should slide into the hole you cut in the book, and the lip of the box should lay flat against the top page. Check for a good fit and that everything looks good. Make any necessary adjustments and then proceed to the next step.
Now we're almost finished... Remove the sheet metal box and apply a good layer of glue to the bottom of the box where it contacts the back cover of the book. Put it back into the book and press it firmly into place. Close the book and sit something heavy on it and let the glue dry for a few hours. Afterward, You should have a nice little hidden safe. You don't have to worry about gluing the pages because the lip around the metal box will hold them together.
If you want to dress it up a little you could glue some felt to the inside of the box and around the lip. And then get some of the adhesive magnetic stripping and stick it to the inside of the cover where it will contact the metal lip of the box and it'll help hold the cover closed. If you notice a small gap between the cover and the pages after doing this, "fluff" up the pages by gently bending them up around the edges with your fingers. After you finish it, It will look like any other book and you can even stand it up on end without the cover coming open and your goodies falling out!
