Secret Book Safe

Sometimes the best place to hide something is in plain sight. But usually it's not. However hiding something inside something else which is in plain sight can be a useful tactic. This one is pretty well known by now, but it's still somewhat useful. I wouldn't store my bitcoin private keys in this thing unless they were BIP38 encrypted. Gutting a book to use as a safe has probably been done as long as books have been around. But as long as there are still books, and you have at least a few for your book safe to blend into, it still works! Although to be honest it does seem physical books are starting to become a thing of the past. Anyway, here is what you need to make a booksafe:

• A book - take into account the size of the object you will be hiding as well as how much room you have to leave around the edges when you cut the book out
• A box cutter - these have a nice handle and are quite sharp, however once you get deeper into the book maneuverability becomes an issue
• An Exacto knife - the kind that have a pen like handle with a pointy blade at the end. This is essential for finishing it off, although you can't cut as many pages at once with it as the box cutter
• Some Elmers glue or other glue - experiment to find one that is less visible on the edge of a book
• Some common sense - please don't press too hard, then slip and hit yourself with the knife, and do this on a sturdy surface like a table. Don't ever cut toward your hard.

 While holding the front cover open, paint the edges of the pages in a thin layer of Elmers glue, then lay something heavy on the from page of the book (like another book) to hold it down while keeping the cover from getting stuck to the glue. Once it dries you may trace out the space you want to cut out, and begin cutting! I suggest using a box cutter for some rough work, followed by an Exacto knife type pen knife to finish it up. That's pretty much all there is to it! As you can tell mine is pretty sloppy, it's not hard to make them look better than mine.