Glass Bottle Cutting Jig

[Skeety]

Hi All,

Has anyone made a glass bottle cutting jig? There seem to be lots of dodgy looking ones around both commercial and home made but have a few ideas of my own so thought I'd ask the experts.

Only planning to cut wine bottles and beer bottles initially (round) around the circumference.

Any advice welcome

Cheers,

Jon.

 

[RobinBHM]

I can remember when those glass bottle cutting kits were oftem demonstrated at shows. A long time now!

I seem to remember they were a cranked metal rod that had an adjustable stop that sat on the top of the bottle

 

[nev]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2keRTbA2zAQ

 

[Steve Maskery]

I've never done it myself, but there are many write-ups on Instructables:
https://www.instructables.com/howto/bottle+cutter/

 

[bugbear]

Making and using the jig is well written up. What to do with the results seems to cause more difficulty!

It appears that there is little need for cut-off-bottles.

BugBear

 

[Hornbeam]

Making and using the jig is well written up. What to do with the results seems to cause more difficulty!

It appears that there is little need for cut-off-bottles.

BugBear

Is there any use for a bottle once the wine has been drunk?

 

[bugbear]

Making and using the jig is well written up. What to do with the results seems to cause more difficulty!

It appears that there is little need for cut-off-bottles.

BugBear

Is there any use for a bottle once the wine has been drunk?

Insulation for a pig sty.

BugBear

 

[SammyQ]

"It appears that there is little need for cut-off-bottles."

Respectfully beg to differ BB. No1 son and new daughter-in-law, being practicing upcyclists, used up forty of them for their low-cost, eco-friendly, wedding reception. They - the cut-off bottles, I mean - looked absolutely smashing with flowers and 'favours' in them and their humble beginnings were insignificant in the overall décor.

Sam

P.S. They - and their detached necks - were properly recycled afterwards.

 

[bugbear]

Anyone else remember Ronco?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhrHnhMGWEc

BugBear

 

[SammyQ]

Just about. I was working in a city where they recycled their bottles by filling them with petrol and...spare ones were hard to come by....

Sam

 

[oakmitre]

I've done this in the past. Its easy to think that the jig is responsible for producing a good break on the bottle.

As long as you can get a very fine score aligned around the bottle it can be split perfectly with ease. Fill a bowl in the sink with water to catch the falling bottle half. Have the cold tap running (not into the bowl).
Rotate the bottle 360 degrees (tricky) in one hand whilst pouring boiling water on the score line (angle the bottle downwards so the hot water flows away from you). Do the same under the running cold tap and the top half of the bottle will slip into the bowl.

The top half of the bottle should fit perfectly back onto the bottom half, and with a small amount of pressure on the top half you can refill the bottle and it will not leak.

Here is a video showing this method. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMTYjn_Knt8

The methods using flaming string, tapping etc are a complete waste of time. They have a huge following but they just produce really poor results.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Masutatsu Oyama had the answer - he used to knock the top into the bottom without moving the bottom. :shock:
That was when he wasn't busy dehorning bulls with his hands.

 

[oakmitre]

The most difficult thing is finishing the sharp edge on the bottle. If you are happy with a safe matte edge its not too bad, but a polished edge is very a labour intensive.

I wanted to make drinking glasses out of real ale bottles with the embossed logos on them. Cutting was easy, polishing - well I gave up