go to wood selection for thin application

If I read your rambling correctly, you're asking for a thin wood to use as a book cover.

Not when it's 3/16" thick.

Use anything you like, you'll find little difference in weight at that size.

A much more interesting question is how it should be finished and bound.

Electric Comet on Fri, 2 Mar 2018

What size book? How important is the "look"?

I glued a bit of 3 mm plywood to the front of a spiral notebook to keep the cover from curling.

again, what size?

If you are binding a book, using wooden covers, that can be done without hinges. Unless you're going for that Book of Armaments look and feel.

Ply might be more stable too, at small thickness. Leather might be an interesting substitute to consider.

I would consider gluing rather than screwing or bolting the hinges

If I "think something like a book cover" I don't think anything like nuts and bolts.

Maybe if you were more specific, we could be too.

Perhaps pop-rivets to attach the hinges to the thin ply.

I've used nuts and bolts to bind notebooks. #10 machine screws (IIRC) fits 3-ring binder holes pretty well.

Did your notebook have a thin wooden cover?

Processed wood, sometimes called a "title page", sure. ;-)

I think you made that up, therefore it's Pulp Fiction.

Years ago I bought a bag of assorted small plywood pieces at a hobby store. Some of it was very thin maybe 3/32" or so. The quality was very good. It reminded me of some aircraft grade plywood I'd seen years earlier. Formica won't work?

As model aircraft plywood goes, 3/32" is pretty thick stuff. You can readily buy 3-ply birch ply down to 0.4mm (1/64") if you feel the need although I've never seen a model design that required anything so thin.

Well, supplier datasheets usually are. ;-)

working with drywall and realized that the paper gives much of the strength so i may apply thin leather over thin ply

just have to find the right adhesive

never worked with formica as far as i know plus i have none

but iirc formica is brittle and meant to have a stiff backing

probably 12 by 9 inches

doing a book binding type hinge might be interesting the material for the hinge or binding would have to be super durable though

thinking hinges might be the best solution

I'd split the cover into two pieces along the long edge, narrow (.5 - .75) at the binding, and use a piano hinge.

PVA will probably work fine. Hide glue is traditional. You might also consider using a leatherworking awl to sew the leather to the thin plywood.

Sewing or gluing, there are bookbinding tutorials / guides that will help.

Tyvek works great for book-cover style hinges, but it is a much more industrial look than I think you want.

Elijah

------ has bound miniature books using currency, also quite durable

think i have som hide glue so that will do it

that is getting fancy but would look great

well i think it has to be glued and the sewing would be cake icing

will it hold paint i thought it would not

is is durable and maybe has higher value as a binding