Slipcase

This box requires very careful measuring and cutting especially when you are cutting everything by hand. So sharpen your blades and pencil!

The grain direction of all materials should run head to tail or parallel to the spine.

Start by measuring the book you are making the slip case for and draw a plan. Measure the width, height and depth of the book. *(Use millimetres only)*. The box is made out of five pieces of 2mm board. *(A-E in diagram)*

Measure and cut the five pieces as follows: (in brackets the sizes used in the example for a book measuring 113 x 157 x 12mm)

A and C = width of pages + 2mm x height of pages + 6mm (115mm x 163mm)

B = height of A x depth + 2mm (163 x 14 mm)

C and D = width of book x depth of B (113 x 14mm)

Carefully cut out the five pieces from 2mm grey board.

Cutting tips for the two larger pieces.

When I am cutting the thinner strips for the walls of the box I often cut a few extra pieces and select the three that are closest in width. This is because it is important that the box “walls” are the same height when you put the “roof” on.

Remember to trim D and E to the width of the book. You can cut two pieces together to get them exactly the same size.

The five pieces ready for the next step – covering the **inside** of the box with paper. Choose something for this that is around 120 – 150gsm if you can.

Lining the inside of the box – video

Cover each of the five pieces separately as shown.

Building the box – video

Once you have built the box, you may want to smooth any rough edges with a sanding block but be careful not to overdo it as you want to keep the edges square not rounded.

Lining the outside of the box to make it stronger and better looking – video

Covering the slipcase.

You can cover the box with bookcloth or paper and follow the same method shown here for each. Your covering material/paper needs to be big enough to cover the box in one piece:

Calculate the size as follows:

(minimum) width of covering = twice the width of box  + depth + about 5 cm

(minimum) height of covering = height of box + twice the depth + about 2cm

Covering the box with paper part 1 – video

Covering the box with paper part 2 – video

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