Someone at an electronics "car boot" sale yesterday was giving away large computer software manuals. I suggested that if he had access to a mortiser, set the depth stop, open the books a few pages in and hollow out the core of the books. For hiding valuyables in, but would a mortiser do the job without tearing?
Highly unlikely as the rotary part of the bit would touch the paper first and rip it, before the stationary chisel would cut through.
Find someone with a desktop laser cutter - should be a straightforward job for them doing 10s of pages at a time.
It might just work if you clamped the pages very tightly between two wide pieces of wood, so the whole lot behaved more like one solid piece of timber. You might be able to do it with a router too.
You can machine paper if its well clamped:
Those hidden-compartment books usually have a few intact pages at the front and then the rest (with the cut-out) glued together into a block. It would be time-consuming to do, but it should make the cutting easier.
Use a biscuit cutter to cut through 20mm at a time.
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