The Hollow Book: Part 1

One of my New Years resolutions asked that I try something new each month. So let's start with a DIY sort of project that I've been wanting to do for a long time: Make a hollow book.

I found these set of instructions online a long time ago but never had the time, effort, and motivation to actually get around to doing it. So I'm going to show you my progress (and potential failure) of my attempt to make one.

Here's the guide if any of you want to try it yourself.

So the textbook I'm using is an outdated, discarded volume of a Psychology textbook that I found lying around in the department. I made sure that it was a hardcover and that it was fairly thick (several hundred pages) because what's the point of a hollow book if you can't store anything in it?

So here's a picture of said textbook. My new phone is on top to give a sense of how big the book is:

And because I have tons of Psychology textbooks no one will look twice at this one.

After applying the first layer of glue I'm already noticing a few things that I'd do differently if I were to make a second hollow book.

Firstly, the pages are starting to warp and some aren't really sticking. At the moment I'm using a roughly 50/50 glue and water mixture. For anyone else doing this I'd recommend using 70/30 glue and water. This will probably help the pages maintain their integrity and stay together.

I also took a bit longer before applying pressure. I'd also recommend that you add the weight as soon as possible. Really compress the book as soon as you can before the glue starts to set.

Compressing the pages down with some of my other heavy Psychology textbooks.

I'll begin cutting as soon as the pages dry and make another post on this when I've made significant progress. If you guys find any other interesting projects like this give it a mention and I'll consider doing it in the future.