Hard Covers for Pop-Up Tunnel Book

This cover was created to fit the Pop-Up Tunnel Book of a previous post, but it may be used for other structures, such as small pamphlets. 

Tools: pencil; bone folder; X-acto knife; metal ruler; tweezers; scissors, PVA and small piece of  scrap board or glue brush; scrap paper to protect surfaces; four pieces of extra book board to use as a spacing guide
Materials: book boards, 4 1/8 x 3 1/8" (105 x 79 mm), grained short; book cloth, 10 1/4 x 4 1/2" (260  x 114 mm), grained short

Before you cover the boards, create an inset or recess for a title or image. In this example, I use an image on the front and a colophon on the back. The two boards are covered together with a space of four board thicknesses between them. The image and colophon are  glued into the recesses after the boards are covered.

Draw around cover title or image onto the board

Using X-Acto against metal ruler, cut the outline.

Dig down at the corner.

Pull up a couple layers of board.

Keep peeling up the layers.

Repeat the process on the other board for
a colophon (or other image) for the back.
A tweezers may help you get a grip on the layers.

Place the boards on the back of the book cloth
with four board thicknesses between them.

Draw around the boards.

Apply glue to the inside of one drawn rectangle.

Press the front cover in place, face down.

Apply glue to second section for second board.

Use a pencil against a board to draw lines across all corners.

Cut corners just outside of the pencil lines.

Cut all corners.

Apply glue to the one long flap.

To get a flat edge, press against the table.

Press down the flap (turn-in).

Apply glue and turn in the parallel flap.
Smooth it down with bone folder.

At the corners, push or tuck in the book cloth
 so you will not see raw board.

Apply glue to one end flap.

Press down and smooth book cloth with bone folder.
Tuck the corners and repeat gluing for the opposite flap.

Use bone folder to smooth down the recesses.

Apply glue to the back of the front image.

Place image into the recess.

Press down the image.
Repeat the process for the colophon (or back image).

Apply glue to one side of the tunnel book

Press to cover, aligning the fold with the
edge of the board closest to the spine and
centered between head and tail.

Apply glue to remaining side of tunnel.

Close the cover, aligning the boards.

Press down.

This surprising little book fits in your palm, can be carried or stored easily, or can be given as a gift.