Sunday, February 26, 2006

How To Make a Secret Hollow Book:

The first step into making the hollow book is to select a book. Make sure this is a book your own, and not one belonging to the library, or your family. I suggest rummaging through books at yard/garage sales.


Make sure it is a hardback; otherwise you will cut all the way through the other side when you are cutting out the insides.
You'll also need:
  1. Elmer's white glue
  2. a container to hold glue solution (I've chosen a film canister)
  3. X-acto knife, and/or box cutter. Both if you have them
  4. brush to apply glue solution
  5. pencil/pen
  6. ruler, or other rigid straight edge

Select a page that you want to be the first one cut out, and save that page to be cut out at the end. (I'll explain later) Even if you don't want to save any pages at the beginning of the book, you must set one aside for a later step.

Mix a solution of white glue and water. Just enough for the glue to be runny, and absorbed by the edge of the book's pages. 50% to 70% glue (30% to 50% water) worked well for me. - Half a film canister full was enough for this book.

Holding the remaining pages together, brush the edges with the glue solution - enough to soak in pretty well, but not too drippy.


Allow this to dry, but use a spacer so the first couple pages, and the front cover don't get stuck. I spaced mine with post-it notes, and used some old hard disk platters to apply pressure. It dries quickly- about 15 to 30 min


When dry, open the book to the first glued page.

Draw out a half-inch boarder around the edge on all four sides. (Don't forget along the spine too.)


Using a strait edge and knife, cut out along the inside of the line. Try to make the cut as vertical as possible, or else try to tilt so the hole will narrow as you go down.


Continue cutting down through the layers. I found that a box cutter was easier to keep straight. This part takes a long time. I recommend listening to music while you work. Watching TV though could be distracting, and you could also cut a page out of your finger. (no, I didn't.)


The longer you spend on it, the smoother and straighter the inside edges of your book will be. My first attempts at this yielded rough edges, but the fuzz flattens down a little when glued (later).

After a while, you can store some of your tools in it while you take breaks. I did this book in 2 evenings.


When you get to the back of the book, and through the last page, stop. Dump out all the little paper fuzz that inevitably comes from the cutting.

Next, brush the glue solution on the inside edges of the pages. Give it a bit to soak in. A little bit of drippiness is okay, as the glue dries clear. This is also a good time to apply a second coat to the outside of the pages with the excess glue.


Brush the rim of the book with a light coat of glue. This will affix it to that one page we saved earlier (and will cut through later).


Close the book again, this time without any spacers. Give it another 15-30 minutes to dry. Clean up any glue that drips on your desk, like it did mine.


Remember that first page we saved? It’s now glued to the rest of the book. Lets all turn there now.

Cut through this first page with your knife to open it. The insides of the book may still be a little gooey since there was no air inside to let it dry. -So let it dry now.


When it’s dry, you're done!

Fill it with whatever treasured items (or contraband) you choose.


Happy hiding.



Reproduced with permission from the author: Aud1073cH

606 comments:

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Anonymous said...

expanding on the idea of the magnets as i have done this with my book. the best kind i have found are in a magnetix play set from walmart. there small round rare earth magnets, you heat up the stupid plastic around them and they pop right out, need 4 of them. instead of saving one page save about 200. make it as normal then drill 2 holes on the bottom portion. drop in the magnets and seal about 10 or so pages over them and cut them out, then do the top section saving about 10 pages as well out of the 200, do the glue , exacto knife and everything as normal except for 180 pages. then dril 2 more holes, make sure that N goes to S otherwise the cover will repell. glue the 10 pages on top and you got concealed magnets to keep it closed.

Anonymous said...

I used robin hood

Anonymous said...

Now make this a case mod and install a computer mother board and necessary accessories inside.

well, i used a laptop . nice. anyway, the best thing is that the disc drive cover is paper! only thing is heat. becomes hot. need ventilation. so i made holes on the side!
try it yourself

Anonymous said...

http://www.freehollowbooks.com This guy gets free books at bookstores and hollows them out. Then he sells them. Great attention to detail. If you tried and messed yours up but still want one, I was very happy. Mine was $35 with shipping. It's so cool. I keep my Nintendo DS and all my games in it. Even room for accessories.

NewLifeFromHeaven said...

Thank you for adding practical knowledge to the internet. You can never work to hard to keep your personal belongings private; there are too many prying eyes in the world.

Anonymous said...

can you use mod podge? i think it might make it too glossy looking//

Anonymous said...

I used mod podge and magnets in my hollow bible:
http://asylu.ms/2007/3/check-out-my-bible/

Anonymous said...

omg dis is awseome FOR MY SECRET SPYING STUF
OR U COULD CUTTHE COVER AND STICK A MINI CAMERA IN IT NO-ONE WOULD SUSPECT IT

Anonymous said...

now i know what to do with those godawful harry potter books XD

Anonymous said...

Thank you! That's a cool stuff!

Anonymous said...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/goots/sets/72157603425704091/

Anonymous said...

awesome... i really need this one... m ganna make one for me.. he hehehe.. thanks a lot

Anonymous said...

I used a phone book. I don't know who is going to break into someone's house and go straight for the phone books... :)

Anonymous said...

I'm waiting for mine to dry. Thanks so much for such easy instructions! I used a very dull blade though, so it didn't come out as neat, but it will still work for the purpose. It was actually really fun to tear the pages out. Big stress releaser.

Anonymous said...

What might be easier for doing this to multiple books put together would be to use paper backs in between hard covers.

Anonymous said...

I just made one! I went to the library and bought 11 books for a dollar! Theres one in there that should be great fun...its called "Minding Your Own Space"...I feel like such a nerd, I find the irony in that extremely laughable!

Also, people keep talking about books that they should and shouldn't destroy...I don't think a person should destroy a book that they like or that might have value...other then that they have every right to run wild...

Anonymous said...

Cool... Stick your iPod in there and make a hole for headphones. If anyone asks, say it's an audiobook!

Great instructions!

Anonymous said...

Well, I made mine using a Bible. I believe this to be the best because like someone pointed out, it is not read enough. I guess most of you have heard a lot of shooting and killings going on inside churches and there will be an increase as time goes on.
I will tell you one thing, I am more relaxe now, than I have God and my 45 with me. If someone should come in shooting, I feel that I will have a chance to saves lives. Ex-cop, private Investigator and have CCW.

Anonymous said...

I just made a Secret Hollow book. I don't see how I'm supposed to have sex with it though, what a waste of time.

Anonymous said...

"I used a phone book. I don't know who is going to break into someone's house and go straight for the phone books... :)"

It will fool thieves, but perhaps not so much people who are around alot. They'll probably wonder why you still have a 4 year old phone book.

Anonymous said...

thats great, now you can suck my balls

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Anonymous said...

Works great, especially with a bible.

Anonymous said...

i did this in college to a german bible (Die Bible) and my friend began storing his pot in there. one day the cops busted his apartment and he happened to have it sitting out so they confiscated it. later, another friend was in a drug enforcement class and they had cops come in to talk about all the stuff they had confiscated over the years, and one of them was Die Bible! she said she totally wanted to raise her hand and ask for it back.

Anonymous said...

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! now which book (goes tghrogh big sisters books)AHA!!!!!!!!!!Pregnacy for teens!!!!!!!!! who'd look in there xD lol

Anonymous said...

It's hilarious that more people complained about cutting up Harry Potter than cutting up the Bible.

Also that no one is complaining about lining a parrot cage with the pages of the Koran.

I'm not religious, but it's still funny.

Anonymous said...

I'm currently waiting on the glue to dry on my English Harbrace. Props to those involved with this article! :)

Anonymous said...

Im doing this to "To Kill a Mockingbird" as I type. Thanks for the how-to.

Anonymous said...

lol, i recently did this with a Bible to hide my tarot cards i know im proably going to hell... but it worked :)

Anonymous said...

Awesome. I'm going to do War and Peace for my literature-loving friend, and some book on Bacteria for myself -- no one would dare open that one. :)

Flannery said...

awww...I don't want to cut up my books!! I'll just find one with nothing interesting in it at all!! yay!!

1alstarfrk said...

can i use a steak or butter knife?

ktarr said...

I'm doing this with a book that is a collection of spy novels. It makes me feel so espionage-y.

Now I just need some microfilm or secret assignments to put in it...

Anonymous said...

Sweet! I'm going to try it right now!

Anonymous said...

THree books together ? How bout 6 books? http://youtube.com/watch?v=xB4qvBztaME

Anonymous said...

Yeah those people who said you shouldn't cut up Harry Potter books are right... You should just burn them instead.

Anonymous said...

"What's a "book"? Is that one of those old-fangled things with words printed on paper? ;-)"

More importantly What's a "film canister"???????????;)

Anonymous said...

me and my buddy used the physicians desk reference. it is about 4 of 5 inches thick, so i use it to hide other books. only problem is it took forever

Anonymous said...

well this thing saved my life i got pulled over and i had bud in a book and the cop was looking in my car and picked up the book and then just put it down and i had a ounce of cush

Anonymous said...

I tried and ended up giving up. I was using a text book so the pages were very glossy like and the blade on my box cutter slipped far too much and cut my finger once, not deep or anything. The corners I had extrem difficulty with and I could only cut 4 or 5 pages at a time. The problem with the corners is that the pages would tear and make it so difficult to cut through that I had to cut in a weird angle which just caused more problems. I do not suggest that girls do this project.

Anonymous said...

I did this a while ago with a smallish phone book. I can't stand to sacrifice a real book...
Not one of the huge ones though, that's be a little overboard.

Anonymous said...

Good Job! :)

Anonymous said...

could i use a steak knife or scissors? if so which would be better?

Anonymous said...

I've always been a fan of making things myself, then customizing them by painting them or adding stickers.

I'm currently using the thickest book I could find in my house, a HUGE tome about prescription medications from 1990. It's a bit over 1000 pages and 3 inches deep because it's on thick paper.

The page-cutting process goes faster when you use an extacto-knife, which can penetrate 3-5 pages perfectly together in one go.

Once I finish cutting and gluing this, I'm going to paint the outside with glue and put pictures and stickers on it.

People aside from my friends will probably see it as something I made in an art class when I was still in High School, so they'll do no more than pick it up.

I've always wanted to do this and finally I found a great tutorial.

Anonymous said...

great suggestions, although I'd wish I'd read them before I started...
keep them up!

Oh, and Harry Potter sucks, its worth using as a stash book.

Anonymous said...

Why the hell are people dumping on the Koran? To stereotype an entire religion is lunacy. That's like saying "I'm going to use pages from the Bible to use as toilet paper, cuz I've met a whole lot of arrogant, dumb-ass Christians." Seriously, I hate people who preach peace & love in the name of God while encouraging and condoning prejudice.

Idiotic, dumb-ass redneck morons. This is why I think organized religion is a crock.

Anonymous said...

Jesus why the hell have i been reading all of these books when i could hide stuff in em?

Anonymous said...

Very sexy... I'm using "The Big Book of Tell Me Why"...

I hope nobody is curious in how the world works...

Anonymous said...

My mother did this for me for Christmas. She chose the most boring book in the world. It was called "what If?" and pretty much a bunch of random people discussed what the world might be like if stuff like the halocaust hadnt happened. It was like 1000 pages thick...she hid an iPod in it :)

Anonymous said...

Several people have mentioned putting a motherboard in it, but what would be really cool would be to make a five (or so) book one (microATX and watercooled I would think) and put that one your desk with a steampunk keyboard and monitor.

That would look awesome.

Jarett Lund-Hopkins said...

sweet now i hav a use for my ©1980-1940
book of 5600 jokes (its boooooring)

Anonymous said...

The Divine Comedy.... I knew it would have a use eventually. Thanks for the awesome tutorial.

Anonymous said...

well i would laeve 3-4 pages to make looks as though your reading it (dont do it to a good bokk bacause sooner or later you will be reading the back cover)

ir kur dindo visas anglai ira gejay ,gaidjai ,idiotai
(tranlation and where did the engilsh are gay and stuff stuff

Anonymous said...

what a peachy keen idea! :3

Anonymous said...

i think that the bible is supposed to be HOlY not Hole-y

Anonymous said...

Please don't ruin the word of God, we need our bibles each and everyone of us.the real word of God is such a blessing.
Thanks LaVern Williams
P.S. if you get time stop by my website and say hi anytime at.........Solid Rock Bible Ministries - of Fresno CA

Anonymous said...

I wanted to do this idea a few years ago but I was just too lazy to try. Do you think that you could get all of the stuff you need in Michels?

Jelly Bean said...

i'll go look for some old reference book to do this to

Anonymous said...

I bought a bag of ten unknown books for $5 at a used bookstore, knowing that normally they're mostly good books, and was dismayed to find three volumes of L. Ron Hubbard's disgusting Mission Earth novels. Normally, that would be a bad thing, but because of this post, I can destroy them and get something practical in the process. Plus, I doubt anyone will actually look at those, unless Scientologists are searching through my house, in which case, I will have worse problems than the discovery of my secret hollow books.

Thanks!

Hotel-Grub said...

How do you mix this glue? It doesn't work for me... I made it runny and applied it very liberally. Didn't do a damn thing. Tried putting the glue straight on with no water. Still didn't work.

Anonymous said...

Sorry Mario Puzo, I'm cutting up "Fools Die"
Already made one out of "The Lord of Snow And Shadow" =(

Anonymous said...

If you don't have any old books laying around and don't want to spend any money, go to your local library and ask if they have any withdrawn books that they are going to throw away. This may surprise you but libraries through away tons of books all the time!

Anonymous said...

I had some old unused hardcover appointment books from years past. I glued 3 together (consecutively!) and installed glue-soaked wood dowels in holes I drilled in each corner and in the middle. I made a template out of thin plywood and clamped the pages together before cutting or gluing. I didn't have to glue the outside page edges (they were gilded)but I did glue the inside cavity. I lined it with thin wood covered in Billard Table cloth. It looks completely natural sitting on a desk or in the shelf. The cavity fits a large-bore handgun.

Anonymous said...

Haha, I made one of these in junior high (like 15 years ago) so that my step-father wouldn't find the letters I was passing in class. I used an algebra book. It worked wonderfully considering he was always going through my stuff and he never found them.

Anonymous said...

i left about 3 pages on the top and bottom of the hole juuuuuuust incase someone decides to look in mine. hehehe. i need another book to do ths to though. i bragged a little too much and now people know which my hollow book is. next time my neighbor has a garage sale, ill bul like, 5

Anonymous said...

I made one from To Kill a Mocking Bird to hide my brass knuckles in

Anonymous said...

use white wood glue--its stronger and dries clearer.
I no sombdy alrdy said this, but press it real well or u will have a "bathtub book" lol

Anonymous said...

grade 6 mathbook dudes ahahah

Anonymous said...

This is kewl, and using a pocketknife does work. I'm just going to use this ever-so boring book called 'Good Stories for great Birthdays' Don't get the name confused, its about famous people back in the 1600-1700s. and its over 400 pages so I have some good cutting space. :-]

Mike said...

I just carved out my old college textbook, awwww what a useful book now. thanks on the how to always wanted to make one. Girlfriend is just shaking her head...

Anonymous said...

on the last week of school i cut out/ holowed out my school diary and none of the teachers ever found out where everyone was getting the gum from( i am at a ponsy gay private school with uniforms and no gum alowed we also have long socks)

Anonymous said...

Wow! It looks very cool :D

It reminds me of "The shawshank redemption"

;)

Anonymous said...

Hey, this is awesome, I made a hollow book about of three hardcover notebooks and its great! I made a video out of your tutorial, on youtube, I hope you don't mine, I pasted your link in the video discription and added that all credit belongs to you thanks again<3

NeonAbsintheDrugAddict

Here's the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc20rcWANPE

thanks again!

Anonymous said...

good idea. i used it. i would rather NOT use a bible!!!

Anonymous said...

i wike this idear.

Anonymous said...

Better they use some mass market like Harry Potter or some such than waste a book of rarer fare.

Anonymous said...

do you think hot glue would work better because it is stronger?

PB4LVince said...

awesome now I can hid my 'secret' things

Http://infopaintball.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

I did this as a Christmas present for my uncle. The cutting out of the pages is much harder than it looks! Its quite hard to get the corners square, and even if you're not trying, if using a long book like i did, the walls end up angling inward. but it ended up great! (altho its tru that its takes a long time to cut out. i used a 800 page dictionary and that took 3 straight hrs.0 thanks!

Anonymous said...

@Home Insurance: Thanks so much! I was just wondering where I could find information on home insurance in Pennsylvania.

HollowBeThyName said...

Were are still cranking out hollow books over at www.freehollowbooks.com If you are trying to hollow them yourself and need tips or advice just drop us a line and we would be glad to help out.

Anonymous said...

I'm definitely doing this as a xmas gift for my friend. It's Emma, by Austen. I picked it because I like the cover, but the version itself sucks, so I have no remorse in using it as an experment. Thanks so much!

Anonymous said...

You know, it may seem cool or classy to use a bible, but to some it is very sacrilegious. I am by no means a bible thumping ignorant crazy Christian fanatic, but I do consider myself a Christian and I do think it is wrong to so casually destroy a bible.

Besides, bible paper is just not easy to work with.

Anonymous said...

i like this idea. its one of the original spy traits :) it could also work better if you didn't use all the pages and left some over it to make it look like a normal book.

Bender McPie

Anonymous said...

yay! a reason to distory those annoying hardcover books!

Anonymous said...

hell yes. this is awesome. just did a sweet one of carl sagan - cosmos and the bottom of the hole has a killer picture of the universe with einstein's floating head. the most sylin' drug stash place i've ever seen.

Anonymous said...

COOOOOOOOOL ...... GOING to try this ....... Will let you all no how mine turns out .... am sooooo excited.

Anonymous said...

Free Hollow Books.com doesn't give them away for free. He gets the books for free, hollows them, then sells them on the internet.

Funny though, I bought books at Goodwill for this. I got "The Hollow Hills" and it's also on FreeHollowBooks.com

Anonymous said...

I'm making one for my hubby for Christmas. Thanks for the idea.

Anonymous said...

COOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!! I want to do it!!!!! I don't even have anything to hide!

Unknown said...

Great instructions.

I tried a dremel, which speeded things up considerably.

I also tried the commented suggestion of mixing the white glue with alcohol- that does not work at all.

Unknown said...

Great instructions.

I tried a dremel, which speeded things up considerably.

I also tried the commented suggestion of mixing the white glue with alcohol- that does not work at all.

Anonymous said...

Either you are copyng wiki how's pics and writing or their copying yours, faget!

Anonymous said...

my friend made one of these for me!
tip: if there's still a lot of loose-ish paper around the edges of the hollowed space, you can use acrylic paint to flatten it down and keep it from shedding everywhere.

i mixed my paint with "blickrylic," an acrylic paint with no pigment, to make it translucent. it turned out well because you can still see the words underneath:
http://img111.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0125091041aey8.jpg

Anonymous said...

wow the person who said this is copied from wikihow??? haha this idea has been around for centuries

Anonymous said...

dang wish i found this post a few years ago b4 i made mine with a scrollsaw and gluestick(took forever...thinking back why didnt i do what he did?!)

Anonymous said...

i used vladimir nabokovs pale fire. i used an average craft knife, its all i had, and although it took longer, it worked ok. but what to hide?

Anonymous said...

BEST IDEA EVER...

my mom wont let me kut up her book =( ...

I DID IT ANYWAY >=)

Anonymous said...

Use the bible its a made up story anyway, and confusing as hell...watch zeitgeitst.."god" religion is for idiots

Anonymous said...

Just so you are aware, Be very careful about any metal objects or magnets for those who travel. Airport security uses an X-ray machine. all metal and magnetic material will be seen in your baggage. Many of the air security people will tend to think suspiciously of you. If they find one hidden compartment, they may decide to tear apart all of your bags to find another. Oh yeah and the dogs can still smell your stash!

Anonymous said...

so i got a question now...

do you know how to make the thick book covers like the book you cut up in that picture ?

i took one apart and it seems you need thick cardboard, but not the cardboard that they make boxes out of.

the spine is glued up with string and multiple layers of card board.

Anonymous said...

I'm going to make a secret Hollow book for my Boy friend to hide his condoms because his older Sister keeps stealing them and I'm the one that buys them for him - he's too scared to walk into the chemist so i have to do it...

Anyway i think this is a great idea

Loved all the other posts - really funny read

FYI - i agree with the Harry Potter Poeple that would be an excellent book to destroy being that it was so gay!

oh and a bible good idea but only if you get the ones that have thicker paper...

Dictionary is also good except when you have an argument over whether a word exists or not and you go to whip out the dictionary to confirm (what would you do then???)

cheers

Xavier Donoso said...

Great guide...I just did mine!
A short version of Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

Anonymous said...

Who would use the Bible?!?! I think a dictonary or an atlas would work better. (unless your family tends to use dictinaries and not the internet)

Unknown said...

I made my lady one of these to keep sentimental notes in so her nosey little brother won't find 'em anymore. i suppose you could keep your connies and lube in one too :P

Blar said...

Great! I've got tons of hardcovers just laying around on my shelves... And I can give it to my little sister to carry her ipod around school without being noticed ;)

Anonymous said...

ok i finished my thick book and it took me about 5 days to make all i need to do which i still havent done since i was done with it...is i need to glue the inside but maybe later...im currently cleaning my room and we all know that takes weeks..to..do..or does it? lol..enyway it holds all my lighters about 12 and a few packs of ciggerettes if you want to hold little shit just get a cardboard pencil thing the thing like 12 pencils get in you know..the um...Ticonideroga really good pencil by the way enyway i used the book ANNAPOLIS somthin i bought at a library sale :) 50 cents!! plus i still think ENYBODY THAT CUTS UP A FREAKIN HARRY POTTER BOOK IS A MORON BECAUSE THATS THE BEST BOOK IN THE WORLS AND I HOPE YOU GO TO HELL! and enyway i can hold some OTHER smokeables in there too :) plus i read alot so i have a crapload of books so it blends in well



WHAT THE FUCK IS HE RAMBLING ABOUT?!

BookBitch said...

I love how people are more upset that harry potter books have been used than people using the bible.

Dofus Kamas said...

It is so beautiful... Thank you very much for sharing us this wonderful art! I love it!

Anonymous said...

OMG this is sooo cool!!!! I am going to do this and give it to my friend for her birthday!!! Thanks for posting this!!

CrazyGamester said...

Thats pretty cool.
I actually made one but it didn't turn out as good.
Check my blog: http://www.crazygamester.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

I tried the demel tool and it was faster, but came out really, really, really, really, really, really, sloppy in the end

Anonymous said...

Its kind of dumb to put make it out of a diary because someone will want to read that... =D

Anonymous said...

Great idea, but I'm not sure if I can bring myself to cut up a book... Maybe I could use old scrapbooking magazines bound together and hollowed out? That could work...

-Sarah

Anonymous said...

I used a copy of Oprah's book. Except I cut out a hole at the top so I could squeeze my JUNK in the hole. Now I just open and slam closed the cover on my junk for hours at a time.

Unknown said...

who uses 3.5" floppy's anymore?

Anonymous said...

perfect place for stashing ganja

Unknown said...

y use glue sp point less i would think, just go 2o pages in on both sides, and cut a hole works just as well and even if some picks it up it still looks sorta like a book?
acuttlay i say thaat cuz i am almost done, hope mine stil works well, i want to be able to bring stuff to school while still hiden, and dont worry nobady shall be shot, not for a gun

Anonymous said...

build a computer into one. not only is it more safe but its kinda poetic... put it in say a "how to book" or an encyclopedia....

Anonymous said...

um no shit?

Anonymous said...

You should use a nice thick Medical book, one that talks about cancer, to hide all your smokes. The irony will have you laughing for days!

jake_V said...

ok so you know how you buy paperback series that usually come like 4-5 books in a cardboard case? well how about removing from case and glue booke together and cutting through all 4 books....then placed back inside the case(there a bitch to get out of the cardboard anyways so people usuaulyl dont mess with it....try it it works wonders and gives you a very large space for contraband.....


-jake_V peace out

Darthsader said...

I made a book for my psp and made the hole the exact size of it. I realized that i wanted to carry around my ipod, psp and earphones so i made a double decker hollow book with three compartments xD

Jen said...

Fist off, don't kill the HP books. That' just..... wrong. lol
This is a really cool idea. I'd seen them done, but could never find a "how to" page. I'm gonna use some old text books that came from who knows where.

Anonymous said...

With only having a box cutter at my disposal, I was finding it difficult to cut all the way to the corners. To make it easier, I took a 1/4 inch drill bit and drilled right down through the corners, so that I wouldn't have to bring the blade of my box cuter all the way to the corner. Just be careful not to drill through the back cover. I accidently made that mistake, but since it's an old text book it doesn't look bad at all.

laser pointers said...

Wow very stuff..I like this much.. Very excellent and wise, it helps to hide some important documents and money that cannot known for someone.

I have some cool gadgets too. I have different types of high power laser pointers, different color like green laser pointers, blue and many more at www.Techlasers.com

Anonymous said...

I used an old World Cultures book from my freshman year of College. When I went back packing through Europe, no one thought to look there. This was a great Idea, thanks!

McDrunk said...

I like the idea of drilling into the four corners but instead of then cutting with an exacto I'm going to thread the blade of my stationary Delta scroll saw through the holes and hopefully cut the book out in a fraction of the time.... or catch the book on fire.

Anonymous said...

I decided to try this, but at the thought of ruining books, even old ones, I searched for the books I didn't need around the house. I find that phone books work really well. They may not be hard cover, but they are useful for those who frown upon the mis-use of any books. After all, a phone book is not technically a book. To make the cover harder, cut a sheet of cardboard big enough to fit inside the cover and glue it on. Allow enough time to dry before trying anything though.

Rofl said...

I'm doing this with a beat-up copy of Twilight I got for free. Not like I'm going to read the abomination.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this valuable info. I'm gonna try it when I get home on Monday!!!

If your looking for a good book to use, the last book of the series of unfortunate events makes a good hiding, even though I couldn't imagine cutting THAT up.....I love Lemony Snicket's books....

Anonymous said...

I already made one but it sucked. Now I'll have to make a good one.

ryan said...

I found the perfect books for this: old computer certification books. It's 2009 and nobody's gonna miss an NT 4 Server Certification book. They're hard cover and usually come in sets, so you can make multiple books roughly the same size. One minor point though: I'm recovering them with fake leather/vinyl.

Anonymous said...

To: Anonymous, 11:55 PM
From: Me, now

. <---- This here is a dot.

It goes at the end of the sentence, like this. <---- See?

And these are her friends: question mark and exclamation mark.
? <---- Question mark
! <---- Exclamation mark

They also go at the end of the sentence, when you want to show that you are asking a question (?) or that you are shouting or being very passionate about your statement (!).
These two can go together, but never together with a dot, and never more then 1 (one) of each.

Also, ALL punctuation marks are followed by an empty space, particularly ones at the end of a sentence. <---- See?

Anonymous said...

ooh i didn't think about soaking the pages through the side with a paintbrush and glue. wish i'd thought of that, would have saved me a bit of time when i made my book. i think nailing the edges with wood and using a scroll saw to cut through the pages would be a lot faster than a pen knife.

Anonymous said...

This is awesome, just finished my book and I love it! No idea what I'll use it for though, haha, but thanks for the how to. :)

Anonymous said...

i just started working! I currently have 2 going right now an old generic readers digest and a starter bible that i felt somewhat guilty about drawing and gluing up at first... but when i got into it, it wasnt so bad. hope it works out

Anonymous said...

Make sure to leave a note in your will where to find this in case you die without anyone knowing where it is, unless you want that. I figure if its important enough to hide and a boring enough book, why risk mourning family selling your treasures for 50 cents or throwing it away?

Anonymous said...

I , too made one years ago, but as a money making project for our new country library, we are taking old Reader's Digest books and after the cut out, etc., We spray paint them gold- inside and out. Then we decorate the outside top cover with stones, flowers, whatever the occasion requires. These are pretty coffee table items. For a man, we are gluing knives, fishing lures, whatever. For a child, you could use objects that would appeal to the age group.

Anonymous said...

Thank you soooo much! I'm making one of these for my friends birthday and I've been trying to decide how to make it so this was amazingly helpful! GREAT directions by the way@ :)

Anonymous said...

O that's really great i was searching for ideas to utilize my old books & i got it. thanks, i got another great place book closeouts coupon code from where i recently get nice quality books with great saving of my pocket money.

Anonymous said...

I glued about 20 pages together in front so they make a secondary lid. So, if someone opens it...they still are inapt to read on...

Anonymous said...

One of the good things about this craft is that even after you cut the book up, you can cut around the words and keep the pages.

Anonymous said...

Awesome!Now I just have to find a book...

Anonymous said...

There are some good websites that sell these for $30-$50 which is not that bad. But I'm cheap.

My mom is the most paranoid person I know and needs someplace to stash her "world-ending disaster" stash of cash. I'm totally making her one for Christmas.

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Anonymous said...

I actually really enjoyed Atlas Shrugged. . . but on my college campus, more people pick it up and go through it than you'd think.

Anonymous said...

I used a couple of old LAW books, they are large, well built and normally well taken care of, I found them at the local goodwill.

As others have mentioned, who is going to grab a law book?

Mike said...

I saved my iPod from confiscation for this! And putting in a foam insert helps to secure single items and prevent them from bouncing around when being shaken. Also be careful to pick a book that's obscure or generally disliked. Boring books don't get stolen.

Unknown said...

Excellent! I love it!

Unknown said...

Excellent! I love it!

--- said...

I used a "Who's Who in Government Officials, 1935-1990," which I tested out by trying to read it and ending up in tears. Nearly six inches thick and mind numbingly pointless.

Anonymous said...

I wish I read the comments first because I have a dremel tool and didn't think to use it. I did slice my hand open so deep that it is still bleeding (several hours later). Even still, I love my new hiding spot :)

jonnyboo6777 said...

i do not get it

Anonymous said...

supper :)

Oakland Ballistics said...

I tried the knife, the rolling knife and the Dremel. I didn't much care for any of those. I ended up using the Dremel Multi Max tool with the scraper tool attached. You then just plunge the tool in next to the previous plunge. It took me about 10 minutes to fully cut out a book (after gluing).
Also, I'm not sure where the guilt comes from for using a book like this. They are mass produced, not a hard days labor.

Oakland Ballistics said...

Another note, I, ironically, made a book for a case for my Kindle.

Anonymous said...

my sister gave me her twilight books(she wants me to read them) so now i have 4 books i can hollow!

Anonymous said...

This is awsome!

Anonymous said...

I just did it with an aa book and put a flask in it. Thanks!

TheBlog said...

This is only prudent if you have a huge amount of cash on the premises:
Hide around 200-500 dollars in a place very likely to be found very quickly... Most burglars are pressed for time for obvious reasons and when they find this in their mind its time to split. Mission accomplished.
Little did they know about the thousands or hundreds of thousands they left behind...
Its called cheap insurance...

Anonymous said...

Bibles aren't that good :/ The paper's flimsy, much better for making a holy joint ;D

Anonymous said...

i used a bible, it was a pain due to the thin paper but it worked and now I may hide my porn in the hands of god (im sure he likes it) lol =0

James said...

I have one word.
Twilight.

Hide your stakes in it.

Anonymous said...

i tried to do this with a yellow pages once but it never worked for me. but recently i have found the perfect book for this. it is called lusitania and i think its about a boat. but who cares its gonna be cut up to hold all my secret items to hide from the rest of my family. =p

Anonymous said...

I'm using a desk reference book. I have 2 and they're huge. I'm in college too so it's perfect...

A. Lee said...

I already started using intuition and memory from an earlier (and failed) attempt, and cut out the very first page. I think I can just substitute with a piece of loose-leaf paper, though. Also, I didn't apply glue before cutting, because last time it made my knife sticky and harder to use.

Mat M said...

I'm using a book Called men and bridges, its really uninteresting, i used too watery glue, but i have more this is just my trial one, good idea though, theses seem stealthy.

Anonymous said...

Ive been wanting to do this for over a decade, but I still have never been able to bring myself to destroying a book. one of these days.. one of these days.

Anonymous said...

thank you so much i was so bored made one out of a book called the homecoming of sons and daughters it's so boring an g just plain black it looks a bit like a bible and its HUGE! No one will ever even look at the front cover!

Anonymous said...

made this along time ago (y yes ,i was 7...omfg!!)the bible works SO well so dus the outfit by some-dude-i-bet-is-dead....
another book that works well is:any book that is ur nabors/any book ur mom would yell at me for cutting

Anonymous said...

i made one of these in grade school to hide my brickboy (grey origonal gameboy system)they thought i liked that book lol
i got a large book and left alot of pages loose in the front

Anonymous said...

Cool, but I would be in big trouble if anyone found out.

Anonymous said...

you the man!!!
Keep making posts, I love em!

Anonymous said...

i used a 2007 planner (hardcover) for this... i don't think anyone'll look at your old schedule....

Anonymous said...

"Colombian History of the world"
I picked this up at a rummage sale the other day. I'm hollowing it out currently, but the cutting part is taking me quite awhile.

I hollowed another one out awhile back, "A Bromfield Galaxy". Hope it wasn't good :)

Unknown said...

I did this with my hardback copy of Stephen King's needful things. It was a little play on the title. Took me forever. It's a bigger book so I have lots of room in it and holds my "needful things" quite nicely. This really helped me in making it. I failed a few times with other books because I didn't glue the pages... or use a straight edge xD

Lydia said...

Thanks for sharing this! Can't wait to try it tonight!

Anonymous said...

that was preety cool man
im doing this for a project and this really help

Anonymous said...

Alright man this thing kicks ass. Where would we be without google... not being able to hide my weed in my Writers Inc. that i got because some dumbasses think i could use a book from highschool for college when i gotta buy one thats better anyway.... no one wants to read about pre-fixes and suffixes so they aren't taking my shit... I'm just rambling because im waiting for the damned glue to dry lmao also put a fan in front of the book so it will dry faster. I thought this might help.... unless someone else already said it in this mile long list of comments... this is a damned good Newport. (i aint black racist sons a bitches)
<3 DADDY McBUTTHOLE

Unknown said...

nice method. Use a wide, flat brush for more even and quick application of glue. I lined the inside of mine with a picture cut from a calendar...because it's a gift, I didn't want the edges to look so rough. Line it after the last step or the lining measurements will be off. One could do the same thing with velvet if they wanted a more cushioned interior.

Anonymous said...

Gonna be making myself one of these soon. I'm using "Treasure Island", haha :P

Anonymous said...

I'd be careful trying to take this on a plane.... security might think you're a spy.....

Jenn said...

forget the glue mixture, use rubber cement =)

Anonymous said...

The funny thing is i read this whole thing and laughed when it said not to distract yourself while doing this. I'm now typing with nine fingers because i decided to watch weeds while doing it. I managed to severely cut my finger to where it needed stitches. Not wanting to explain to my husband why i was making this i didn't tell him. On the positive side this is absolutely amazing ;)

Anonymous said...

I'm trying to hide my pocket knife and money in here, but i dont know where my dad puts his exacto knife >< idk what to dooo

Anonymous said...

I loved this it ROCKS!!!!!! I use it to hide my money in at home!

Anonymous said...

I am working on hollowing out Anton Le Vey's Satanic Bible so that I can hide a copy of the King James Bible inside it! fun!

Anonymous said...

I did it!
But mine didnt look as good as yours did hahaha

I used a Chicken Soup For the Teenage Soul. It holds all my money so my little brother wont take it :) Haha

Andy Brady said...

I used your idea to hide my firearm in a copy of "clear and present danger". I figured that would be ironic.

Anonymous said...

Finally, a use for the Twilight saga I used to be oh so obsessed with...

Michelle said...

OMG i so need to find a book now....Thanks for posting this site online :)

Unknown said...

If you were to cut the last page into flaps you could glue them down the inside walls to give a smooth edge. I bet someone already posted this idea, but I didn't feel like reading all 400 comments to find out.

Anonymous said...

I picked up a 2004 Physician's Desk Reference and a 2001-2002 American Library Directory just for this purpose, but now I'm too intrigued by both of them to cut...

Anonymous said...

Verry good, easy instructions, as soon as I can snatch my dad's carpet knife I'm hollowing out my thick hardcover bible:)

Anonymous said...

Found my brother with one of these, try a dictionary.....

Anonymous said...

Found my brother with one of these, try a dictionary.....

Anonymous said...

Bought a used book online for $5 bucks, originally $20, which is #11 in Wheel of Time. Missing about 30 pages near the beginning, looks like a publishers defect. Immediatley thought of this idea, since it is almost a 800 page book. Googled How To etc, and here I am. Kinda want to leave outside of pages unglued, but not reall important. Will blend in just fine with my other Wheel of Time books.

Anonymous said...

You know, my friend actually uses one of these as a protective case for her Kindle. Hollowed out, and lined with some craft foam, a book actually offers quite a bit of shock protection. I plan on hollowing an old thick book out for my ipad, with various bits carved out for the stylus and adapters given enough room.

For those of you who feel bad about ruining a book, don't buy a new one! Go for the ratty beat up ones you find in library book sales, yard sales, church rummage sales. Often times they'll have just the amount of wear and tear on them to make them look interesting, but not interesting enough for a non-book nerd to read. Also, you'll get them for about ten cents a piece!

Anonymous said...

thank you. just made one! so stoked

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