Evil J
04-21-2008, 01:44 PM
OK, we used to have How To's on things other than car stuff, so I thought I'd share this. Here's a finished result from this process. I made a "custom" gun case out of a book:
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g233/WonderWedgeSL/STA70467.jpg
Here's how you do it:
1) Find a thick hardback book. The thickness needs to be at least as deep as whatever you're planning on storing it in.
2) use a plastic container (I cut the bottom off of a water bottle) and mix up a paper mache mixture using an all-purpose white glue (like Elmer's). I used about 3/4s glue and 1/4 water. You want it thick but not too thick.
3) Next, find the place in the book that you want to start your hollow point. It may be a certain page, or a certain spot... now, take (1) page extra. Place spacers in between (I used a couple of stacks of Post-its)to seperate the first pages and the rest of the book.
4) use your glue solution to liberally (but not til it runs) coat the outside of the pages of the section you're going to hollow out. after you're done, close the book (with the spacers in between) and place something to weigh down the top of the book. I can't stress this part enough:
The heavier and more evenly distributed the weight, the better this will turn out. TRUST ME.
I ended up using an old hard wood sign (to distribute the force evenly) and a 30 lbs. dumbell to weigh it down.
5) Let dry. this will take about 15-30 minutes.
6) Now to the hollowing. First, use a ruler and straight-edge to draw a rectangle that is at least 0.5" from the edge of the pages. If you want to just completely hollow the book out for multi-usage storage, you're done. If you're wanting something custom (like the above, or for, I dunno, a small rock hammer a la Shawshank Redemption), create a stencil of the object (the more straight lines and more 90 degree corners the better) with an extra 0.1" for clearance on all sides of the object (just that much, this will make a better fit later).
7) Start cutting using a box cutter, straight razor, or X-acto knife. If you have a dremmel, you can use that too, but be careful... paper is flammable and those things produce heat, y'know! Do small amounts of pages. If you try and do too many, you'll end up with rough edges (like I did) and difficult to cut-out corners (like I did, too).
This will take a while depending on what book you choose and how complex your stencil (remember about as many straight edges and 90 degree corners? Yeah) . Mine had 1,100 pages, and it took about 3 hours.
8) after completing this, use the remaining glue solution to run over the insides of the book as much as possible. If this is a custom job, then wrap whatever item it is smooth plastic (Zip-loc freezer bags worked best for me) and place inside book. Then, use a thin coat of the solution to paste that one page we saved to the front of the hole.
Shut book, weight as before, give MUCH longer to dry (overnight preferable).
9) Cut through that one page we saved, remove objects, reweight and make sure it's completely dry.
And...
You're done. Now you have a clever-ass hiding spot for anything.
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g233/WonderWedgeSL/STA70467.jpg
Here's how you do it:
1) Find a thick hardback book. The thickness needs to be at least as deep as whatever you're planning on storing it in.
2) use a plastic container (I cut the bottom off of a water bottle) and mix up a paper mache mixture using an all-purpose white glue (like Elmer's). I used about 3/4s glue and 1/4 water. You want it thick but not too thick.
3) Next, find the place in the book that you want to start your hollow point. It may be a certain page, or a certain spot... now, take (1) page extra. Place spacers in between (I used a couple of stacks of Post-its)to seperate the first pages and the rest of the book.
4) use your glue solution to liberally (but not til it runs) coat the outside of the pages of the section you're going to hollow out. after you're done, close the book (with the spacers in between) and place something to weigh down the top of the book. I can't stress this part enough:
The heavier and more evenly distributed the weight, the better this will turn out. TRUST ME.
I ended up using an old hard wood sign (to distribute the force evenly) and a 30 lbs. dumbell to weigh it down.
5) Let dry. this will take about 15-30 minutes.
6) Now to the hollowing. First, use a ruler and straight-edge to draw a rectangle that is at least 0.5" from the edge of the pages. If you want to just completely hollow the book out for multi-usage storage, you're done. If you're wanting something custom (like the above, or for, I dunno, a small rock hammer a la Shawshank Redemption), create a stencil of the object (the more straight lines and more 90 degree corners the better) with an extra 0.1" for clearance on all sides of the object (just that much, this will make a better fit later).
7) Start cutting using a box cutter, straight razor, or X-acto knife. If you have a dremmel, you can use that too, but be careful... paper is flammable and those things produce heat, y'know! Do small amounts of pages. If you try and do too many, you'll end up with rough edges (like I did) and difficult to cut-out corners (like I did, too).
This will take a while depending on what book you choose and how complex your stencil (remember about as many straight edges and 90 degree corners? Yeah) . Mine had 1,100 pages, and it took about 3 hours.
8) after completing this, use the remaining glue solution to run over the insides of the book as much as possible. If this is a custom job, then wrap whatever item it is smooth plastic (Zip-loc freezer bags worked best for me) and place inside book. Then, use a thin coat of the solution to paste that one page we saved to the front of the hole.
Shut book, weight as before, give MUCH longer to dry (overnight preferable).
9) Cut through that one page we saved, remove objects, reweight and make sure it's completely dry.
And...
You're done. Now you have a clever-ass hiding spot for anything.