Secret Opening Book

I am very excited to finally have a worthy version of a secret opening book available. In case you are wondering why I am making a book, consider that a book is a container like a box. To keep a book locked has the same appeal to it.

The book is made from Ebony, Curly Maple, and Lignum Vitae. Lignum Vitae is a green colored wood that is self lubricating. Over the years it has been used for many engineering purposes including the use of under water propeller bearings on ships. It also has a wonderful fragrance, and holds up to decay better than any other wood.

I am not going to show photos of how the book opens in order to preserve the secret. Once you have unlocked the book, you are free to use it as a journal. If you happen to use all the paper, then you may replace it easily enough. Accepts 8.5 x 11 and A4 paper.

I also book-matched the maple panels (no pun intended). See the pics below for more about it.

 

 

Close up on how to replace paper. String is used and requires no sewing or special tools. Fold a few sections of paper in half, loop the string around these sections, and slide in to the binding. The extra thickness of the string creates a perfect sliding dovetail joint.

 

Here is a photo showing how the curly maple is book-matched. This is a woodworking term that describes two boards sawn from the same plank, and placed side by side. The result is that one board is a mirror image of the other, and often reveals beautiful butterfly-like patterns like an ink-blot test.

 

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