gag gift. i want to cut out a book to hold a handgun.

[vash]

friend of mine went hog-wild on firearms.

we are both engineers. i am thinking of cutting out the inside of an extra pro-eng reference manual to hold his most recent purchase. a glock.

i have the same glock, so i have the template.

i cannot wrap my mind around how to make it neat. a total hackjob..totally in my wheelhouse. one of those neatly cut, Hollywood jobs? not so much.

i'm thinking of clamping the pages rigidly together, and going at it with a box full of X-acto blades and a a straight edge.

any ideas?

[varmint]

Try YouTube.

I think you have to start by gluing the pages together. A dremel tool would help.

[craigster59]

Hope you have a lot of time on your hands and many boxes of blades! I've done this many times making props for shows. We have tried bandsaws, Roto-zips, routers, etc and it just comes out looking like crap.

Remove all pages from the manual leaving cover and spine, save the first few pages. Then get some dense foam and cut to thickness and size of the book.

Hollow out the area for the spoon, glue in the first few pages to cover hollow area and trim the outside edges of the foam to look like pages. You can do this with a wire brush, scraping along the edge. It will save you much time and frustration. Good luck!

[Porchdog]

+1 on gluing the pages. Maybe a very dilute solution of white glue and a sheet of wax paper where you what it to open, then clamp it up tight until the glue sets and it's mostly dry?

Cut it with a good router.

[stevej37]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Hidden-Gun-Storage-Concealed-Carry-Holster-Hollow-Book-Safe-US-Constitution/172121710802?hash=item281340e0d2:m:mPiWZl0_Hbrzmbx 8nPHA3eg:rk:1f:0

[vash]

damn. i didnt think of glue.

hmmm..maybe a scroll saw.

[911 Rod]

Maybe a paper drill?

[Eric Coffey]

Might be easier to just buy an existing "book safe" and re-wrap/glue on your book cover of choice.

[vash]

Originally Posted by Eric Coffey

Might be easier to just buy an existing "book safe" and re-wrap/glue on your book cover of choice.

true.

but the DIY nature is part of the gift. this could go horribly wrong..hahha..

[Tobra]

You want some pages covering your work front and back. Glue the center part together, then use a dremel to do the rotozip thing, cut out a square, and use foam to make it secure and not rattle around.

If you go the exacto knife route, I would be happy to stitch you up for free. I have a book set up for an Airweight S&W, you would never guess by picking it up, has about the right heft.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I would call a laser engraver and see if they can cut the shape out without the pages bursting into flame.

[vash]

The target book;

[varmint]

Take the cover off. Clamp the book to a stand a few feet away. Blast it with a .22 until you have a gun shaped hole. Glue cover back on.

It will be messy, but quick and more interesting.

[vash]

Originally Posted by varmint

Take the cover off. Clamp the book to a stand a few feet away. Blast it with a .22 until you have a gun shaped hole. Glue cover back on.

It will be messy, but quick and more interesting.

hahahhah..

[vash]

gameplan formulated.

what about, drilling the "corners" of the shape of the firearm straight thru the book pages. then use those holes as a reference point for a jig. hmm..i bet i could do 10 pages at a time fairly accurate.

[MBAtarga]

I've done something similar in the past. My wife needed hundreds of valentine heart shapes cut out of construction paper. I formed a stack using a hardboard top and bottom layer and clamped them together and cut them out on my bandsaw. For your purposes, you'd need to do the same but drill a hole to start the scrollsaw cut within.

[HardDrive]

I would be very surprised if there is not already making these. Etsy?

[reachme]

I would be very surprised if someone was selling a cutesy way to conceal firearms in a book as if to carry into a learning institution. I understand your purpose but I can see how it could be interpreted another way

[MikeSid]

Take your gun template and cut the shape out of a piece of 3/4" x 10" hardwood. Taking the interior cut away piece, attach thin gauge 1" metal strip molded to the perimeter shape. You are making a cookie cutter with a solid interior piece for stability.

Next take the scrap piece of hardwood with the gun cut-out and clamp it to the interior pages of the book - with the cover and several pages open. Then place the "cookie cutter" back into the scrap piece with the "blade" down. The kerf of the cut in the hardwood will allow room for the metal strip "blade".

Place the entire apparatus into a hydraulic press and press the blade through the pages. You'll only get 1/4" cut each time so you'll need to make 6-8 passes. And you'll have to manually remove the cut away pieces from the cutter, but your cuts should be consistent. And at a 1/4 inch each time, the blade should not deform and would be held consistent by both pieces of hardwood.

As a practical matter, this might be a complete cluster, but in my mind when I watch the Shawshank Redemption, this is how I envision the prop guys doing it.

[rfuerst911sc]

Leave the first 10 pages in the book and tear out all remaining pages leave a few at the end/back side . Make a small/thin wooden frame and glue/fasten to the books spine . Place a thin piece of luan or masonite onto the back side of the wooden frame and glue/nail it . You now have an open faced case . Line with felt or thin foam and there you go !