Secret Book Switch

All credit goes to B.Light Design who came up with this inventive secret, hidden book switch. After seeing this on the web I knew I just had to make my own.

NOTE - the last image is a GIF but I'm finding that they don't work on Mobile devices. They work fine though on PC's.

For ease of making this Instructable, I decided to make the initial build on a piece of wood. This way I can easily show how the switch works and don’t have to try and take good photos of my bookshelves (lots of shadows and crappy light).

I have wired up the switch to activate a light on my bookshelf. It’s powered by batteries but there is no reason why you couldn’t hook it up to mains power. Just make sure that you know what you are doing and understand the loads limits of the switch. You could even hook this up to a secret door if you’re lucky enough to have one!

I’m thinking about making a secret draw somewhere on my bookshelf which is activated and opens by the secret book switch.

Hackaday were nice enough to do a review of this project which can be found here

Parts:

1. Fan Switch – eBay

2. Aluminium strip 10mm x 3mm 1m Aluminium – Bunnings or any local hardware store

3. Aluminium Strip 20mm x 1.6mm 1m Aluminium – Bunnings or any local hardware store

4. Block Terminal – eBay

5. Various sized screws

6. Braid fishing line – eBay

7. Hinge 10mm x 8mm - eBay

Tools:

1. Drill

2. Angle grinder

3. Philips head screwdriver

4. Vice

5. Epoxy

6. Pliers

Steps:

1. First cut a 50mm length from the 20mm Aluminium strip

2. Next bend it close to half way. In the images I had the bottom section longer that the top. Later on I decided to trim the bottom section of the bracket

3. Drill a hole into top section of the bracket. The hole needs to be big enough to fit the switch into.

4. Next drill a smaller hole into the base of the bracket. This will be used to secure the bracket to the bookshelf.

5. Lastly, fit the switch into the bracket using the gold screw end to secure it in place

I had to modify a hinge as I didn’t have one the right size. Cutting a hinge in half and trying to put it back together wasn’t easy (the little pin is a pain in the arse) so in the parts list I have added a link to an 8mm hinge which will work perfectly.

I’m calling this section the book lever as it is the part that sits behind the spine on the book and allows you to turn on the switch.

Steps:

1. So if you don’t have the right sized hinge you will need to modify a larger one by cutting it in half. The ends of the pin on the hinge will also need to be bend in with a hole punch or something similar so it doesn’t come out

2. Cut a piece of the 10mm aluminium strip. The size will depend on what book you are going to use.

NOTE: when picking a book I found it helps to have one that is older and also have a dust jacket. Once you have your book you can work out what length to make the arm of the lever out of the 10mm aluminium strip.

3. Place the hinge against the strip and mark where to drill the holes in the aluminium.

4. Secure the hinge to the strip with a couple small screws and nuts. I also trimmed the excess thread on the screws and grinded them down as flat as I could. Also did the same for the screw head. This will ensure that the screw won’t be visible behind the cover of the book.

Steps:

1. Place the bracket for the switch as far to the back as you can on the bookshelf. If you find that there is any excess aluminium on the bracket that is inhibiting you getting to the back, remove this and try again. The reason why you want to get this as far back as possible is so your book isn’t sticking too far out on the shelf.

2. Screw the bracket into place

NOTE. One the final build when I did attach the switch and bracket, I also glued on top the terminal – see the next step for more details

Steps:

1. To ensure that the bracket took up least room as possible, I trimmed the bottom section and made this shorter

2. I also rounded the edges so there were no sharp edges

3. I glued a terminal onto the top of the switch. The one that is in the parts list will be the best type to get. However, if you do have a terminal lying round just cut to size and glue to the top.

4. Lastly, I cut and screwed into place the wires from the switch. This way all I need to do is to secure the wires from the LED light into the terminal and I’m done. No soldering etc.

As mentioned early, you would actually be attaching this to the bookshelf. Using a piece of wood makes it easy to document this build.

Steps:

1. To work out what distance you need from the switch to the lever, place the book just in front of the switch and mark where the spine is

2. Grab a couple small screws and secure the lever into place.

3. Drill a small hole in the top of the lever for the fishing braid

Steps:

1. Cut a piece of the braid fishing line and tie it to the end of the chain on the switch. In the final build I trimmed the chain so I could put the book as close as possible to the switch.

2. Next stand the lever up and whist it is in the standing position, tie the other end of the braid to it.

3. Trim any loose braid

Steps:

1. Remove one section of the dust cover from the book and open the book half way.

2. Place the braid between the pages and place on the shelf. The lever should be resting on the back of the books spine.

3. Replace the cover and test to make sure the lever activates the switch.

As a test to make sure that it worked, I added a small battery and LED’s to the switch. In case you are unsure of how to wire-up the switch, I have included some steps below on how to do this.

Steps:

1. Attach the positive wire from the battery to one of the wires from the switch

2. Next attach the other wire from the switch to the positive end of the LED. LED’s have positive and negative polarities so if you don’t wire it up right nothing will happen

3. Attach the negative wire from the battery to the negative leg of the LED

4. Test by pulling the book down and activating the switch.

Steps:

1. Screw the switch and lever down to the shelf. Remember to have the switch as far back on the shelf as possible

2. Attach the battery and light. If you want to use mains power then it’s up to you. Just make sure that you know what you are doing.

3. Attach some braid to the switch and lever

4. Put the book into place on the lever and give it a pull

5. Enjoy your hidden book switch