Shape a plywood bookmark in Easel and add a slot for an elastic book strap.
Creating an Easel account is free. No credit card required.
Start from a blank workpiece
Make a thin plywood bookmark that can hold a book closed with a separately sewn elastic loop. Brian Wharton’s plywood-and-elastic project is the construction reference; the recording draws the wooden part in Easel, not the elastic.
Creating an Easel account is free. No credit card required.
First add a square in Easel, unlock its proportions and resize it to a 1½ × 6-inch bookmark. Round the corners to 0.2 inches and choose an outside cut through the example’s ⅛-inch birch plywood.
Next add a 1⅛ × ¼-inch rectangular slot near the top, leaving wood around every side. Choose an inside cut through the plywood and turn tabs off for the slot; keep holding tabs on the outer outline.
After cutting, remove the outer tabs and slot offcut, then sand the edges. Thread separate elastic through the slot and sew it into a loop around your book, as Brian describes. Match the slot to your elastic first: these example dimensions are not a tested strap fit or a ready-to-carve workholding setup.
Brian’s slot accepts a sewn elastic loop that wraps around a closed book. Antonello’s veneer bookmarks sit between pages and use a small top opening for a separate cord tassel. Choose the closure for carrying a book, or the layered pattern for a simple page marker.
Plywood with a strap slotby Brian WhartonBrian cut these markers from ⅛-inch plywood. His shared file contains a roughly 1½ × 7-inch rounded outline and its elastic slot, but not the mountain-and-sun logo pictured on the second marker. Add your own decoration if wanted. The elastic is a separate purchase that Brian threads through the slot and sews into a loop; neither photographed marker has it fitted.
Cross-grain veneer patternsby Antonello SantiAntonello glues three veneer layers with crossed grain, using wenge, walnut, ash and birch. His six Easel workpieces supply decorative motifs and straight side cuts, including hearts, flowers and musical notes—not complete closed outer silhouettes. As his notes explain, the final shape is finished by hand. Veneer, glue and the photographed cord tassels are separate supplies.
See more bookmark search results →
Creating an Easel account is free. No credit card required.
From Brian’s cutting instructions
Brian’s project discussion can be read publicly; log in to post a comment.
In “Cut out the bookmark,” Brian Wharton says to use tabs on the outer outline but not in the slot for the elastic. He describes cutting a plain marker and another with his company’s logo from ⅛-inch craft-store plywood.
Project notes by Brian Wharton: read the source.
From Wooden Bookmark to hold your book closed by Brian Wharton.
Ask a questionKeep a border of plywood around the elastic slot, and size the marker so it sits between the pages of the book you use.
Creating an Easel account is free. No credit card required.
