How to make a thumb book page holder from wood

This project took some serious blood and sweat. I felt I could whip it off in a matter of 5 minutes, but oh how wrong I was. To make this DIY wood thumb book holder required more than basic jigsaw skills. I just recently got my jigsaw so I didn't get up the speed yet.

But let's start from the beginning. I used a scrap from red oak and perhaps that's what made the job more difficult. Pine is so much softer and would probably going to be easy to navigate and drill through.

This project was one of my custom gifts for Christmas, along with foldable cookbook stand, a bathtub cubby and a lazy Susan pencil holder.

So here are issues that I ran into while making this DIY wood thumb book holder:

Jigsaw curves weren't perfectly curvy. Perhaps I should try it with the scroll saw and it would be better to maneuver it.
The wood also chipped when I used a jigsaw, maybe adding a sacrificial board under would help.
The round for a thumb was far from perfect. I think a drill press could fix that problem.

Cost: $1

Time: 15 mins to 1 hour (depends on the skills)

Level: intermediate

Materials

Scrap wood 1x4x3"
Jigsaw or scroll saw
Drill
Drill bit ⅞"
Stain or wax polish

PIN IT TO MAKE LATER

Instructions

Step 1. Cut bottom sides

Take a piece of scrap wood and draw with a pencil the lines on it how you'd like the DIY thumb page holder to look. Using a clamp, attach the board to the table so it doesn't move. Start cutting the bottom curves. Slowly move so the cut is more accurate. It didn't go well for me.

Step 2. Drill a hole

Drill a ⅞" hole for the thumb above the curves. Use a sacrificial board on the bottom. This will prevent the hole from chipping on either side.

Following a guiding line, cut out a top curve.

My first attempt to make this page book holder

Step 3. Sand the book page holder

Sand it super smoothly with 80 grit paper, making your way up to 220 grit. This might take a while.

Apply stain to finish or leave it bare.

You can also play with the Dremel VersaTip tool and add some customization in form of woodburning.

If you'd prefer to buy

After doing this little project that took way more time than it should've, I thought that buying it would be faster, so here are a few options for you from Amazon and Etsy!