social

Making Drinking Glasses From Glass Bottles

December 11, 2010

A photo of a glass cutter with a red handle.When making a drinking glass out of a beer bottle, what type of string do you use to soak in lighter fluid, then tie around the bottle?

By Alex Moritz from Sheffield, MA

Advertisement

Answers

December 11, 20100 found this helpful

In the 50's, when I was a wee widdle kid, we used postal twine, a cheap hemp string, tied to the top and bottom of a thumb-thick willow stick, like it was a fiddle string. Looping the string completely around the bottle, turned the fiddle stick into a bow. "Sawing" rapidly heated up the glass and splashing water on it cracked it.

In the 60's we got lazy and used butcher twine and white gas.

In the 70's they sold bottle cutting jigs, that let you roll a bottle in a V shaped trough with one end stop and a glass cutter.

I improved on that by drilling two holes into each side of the trough and gluing marbles into three of them for smooth sliding bearings, and the glass cutter into the fourth hole.

Advertisement

For the neck side end stop I just clamped a block of wood into the trough with a C-clamp.

For the smoothest rotation I wrapped a strip of rubber cut from an old bicycle inner-tube a couple of times around the bottle and out through a hole in the bottom of the trough. That resulted in smooth and precise cuts and the 100th bottle was cut exactly the same as the first.

To get the edge perfectly smooth I always used a torch. As long as you never stop and keep the torch moving around the top, it works quite well.

Keep in mind, though, even with a perfect cut and a perfectly beaded edge, cut bottle glasses are just a goofy novelty and will be retired to a shelf or given away pretty soon. They are not comfortable for drinking, but if you use colored bottles, they can be used to make very pretty storm candles.

Advertisement

Have FUN!
DearWebby
webby.com/.../blog

 
Answer this Question

January 2, 2009
Click to read more ideas from older posts on ThriftyFun.
 
Read More...

December 11, 2010

I would like to make glasses like these from the Pottery Barn. However, I have never worked with glass. Any ideas on how to cut the bottles, and then smooth the edges? Thanks.

 
Read More...

March 8, 2016

The beautiful jade green of Perrier bottles makes them a great choice for making drinking glasses. This is a page about making recycled Perrier bottle glasses.

Recylced Perrier Bottle Glasses

<< First< Previous
Categories
Crafts Recycled Crafts ContainersNovember 16, 2016
Pages
More
🌻
Gardening
🐰
Easter Ideas!
👒
Mother's Day Ideas!
Facebook
Pinterest
YouTube
Instagram
Categories
Better LivingBudget & FinanceBusiness and LegalComputersConsumer AdviceCoronavirusCraftsEducationEntertainmentFood and RecipesHealth & BeautyHolidays and PartiesHome and GardenMake Your OwnOrganizingParentingPetsPhotosTravel and RecreationWeddings
Published by ThriftyFun.
Desktop Page | View Mobile
Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Contact Us
Generated 2024-03-28 10:08:11 in 7 secs. ⛅️️
© 1997-2024 by Cumuli, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
https://www.thriftyfun.com/Making-Drinking-Glasses-From-Glass-Bottles-3.html