Bottle cutter

[SurreyNick]

Does anyone have the capability to cut a couple of narrow beer bottles for me? P&P, the price of the beer in the bottles, and the time to drink it paid for of course!

I'm after 5" and 3" lengths of both a brown and a green bottle. It's for a few coils I want to wind for a homebrew. The coils will be softly lit from inside, hence glass.

Thanks

Nick

[G4XWDJim]

I've heard that to cut bottles you need to fill with water to the level required and immerse a red hot piece of metal (poker) in the water. This is supposed to make the bottle crack at the water level.

I must admit I've never tried it myself.

Jim

[Ed_Dinning]

Hi Nick, try shopfitters and signmakers, you may get offcuts of Perspex there.

Ed

[Cobaltblue]

Originally Posted by G4XWDJim

I've heard that to cut bottles you need to fill with water to the level required and immerse a red hot piece of metal (poker) in the water.

My Friend Alan used to do this but he used oil not water.

Mind you he did manage to slash his arm open when we were in our teens

Cheers

Mike T

[JHGibson]

Nick, if no one offers to cut for you, try Googling bottle cutter and you should get a list of hardware stores with cheap bottle cutting kits.
John.

[60 oldjohn]

Have a look on You Tube, Bottle cutting, Greenpowersience The Guy there uses a Bottle Glass Cutter to score a light mark then uses hot water then cold water and repeats this till the top drops off. Very impressive. The first part of the video shows what can happen with other methods. I am sure you can use an ordinary Glass cutter suitably held to make the light score.

John.

[Ti Pwun]

I was going to suggest YouTube. I like to watch a guy on there by the name of 'andydaviesbythesea' and he has some very interesting videos, one of which covers bottle cutting and although I have never tried it, he has a nice technique and his demo was fascinating.

[SurreyNick]

Thanks for the tips. As suggested YouTube has provided the answer.
Much appreciated
Nick

[emeritus]

I use a method demonstrated to me by a friend who had been taught it in the Scouts. Get some cotton string, tie it around the bottle where you want it to break, soak the string in an inflammable liquid such as meths or paraffin, and set light to it. After a little while, it should break at just above the string line. I use carborundum or aluminium oxide paper to smooth the sharp edges. I put the abrasive paper on a smooth surface and rub the broken surface over the paper to get a flat end, and then smooth off the edges. I suppose it might be more accurate if you were to score a lie with a glass cutter first, but I never have. It usually works without cracking the rest of the glass.

[Peter.N.]

The way CRT reconditioners cut tube necks off was to put a turn of resistance wire round the neck at the appropriate place and pass a current through it causing it to glow red hot, it would then crack the class and let the air in slowly so as not to damage the screen, after being left over night a gentle tap would cause the glass to part. I know yours is a lot thicker but I would think it might work. Makes a very neat cut.

Peter

[julieblinx]

just seen this in the news....
https://uk.screen.yahoo.com/boy-show...090121482.html

[Ti Pwun]

That's done it! No way to avoid having a go now.

[Mike Phelan]

Fill the bottle with water up to the line where you want to cut it, then pour a few cc of flammable liquid in (not meths or IPA as it's miscible with water).
Set light to it and the job's done.

[stevehertz]

Guitarists' glass finger slides for playing (as you'd expect) slide guitar are perfect for the job.

Here's an example:
http://www.soundsliveshop.com/p/Plan...FSEcwwodSBQAtQ

[Freya]

I had several Mazda CRM121 tubes to dispose of last month, I used resistance wire around the neck with power from a 12 volt battery. It worked very well and a clean result. Vacuum was absent when doing this.

[SurreyNick]

Thanks for all the suggestions and advice and also the links to YouTube etc. I've ordered a diamond tipped glass cutter/scribe off eBay and will have a go with that and the hot/cold water immersion approach first. If that fails (although if a six-year-old can do it, I hope I can too!) then I'll try one of the other approaches.
I'll have the first aid plasters close at hand too
Nick

[Dave757]

Hi Nick,

You'll probably need the plasters if you go round the
cut edge with loose glass paper like the six year old did!

He looked to be getting a lap full of glass dust and chips too.

I think I would stick with the plastic option, - you've still got
to put holes on the tube to feed the ends of the windings through.

Good luck mate!!

Kind regards

Dave G0ELJ.

[Ti Pwun]

I didn't watch the video all the way through but yes, I imagine brushing your finger on the cut edge would smart a bit.

I have drilled a hole in a bottle to make a lamp though and I can tell you it was a long and tedious process. A slow speed on the pillar drill with just enough weight hanging from the arm to apply slight pressure would be my method in future. Doing it by hand is not something I'd ever want to repeat.

[emeritus]

I remember seing a demonstration of how to drill a hole in a glass bottle at one of the DIY fairs my father took me to see at London's Olympia in the 1950's, using a Mason Master masonry drll. The technique was to lay the bottle on its side, get some putty and make a small ring around where you wanted to drill, and fill it with oil, then drill using high pressure and slow speed. I have done this myself on numerous occasions and find it best to use a hand drill. It never takes me very long. The only problem is getting it started as the drill tends to skid until you have made a dent.

[Ti Pwun]

I think I was about 13 or 14 when I made that lamp and I broke the first bottle by pressing hard when it was half drilled through but it took forever so I concede that the bit was probably quite blunt. I got it in mind over the years that a pillar drill would be how I'd tackle it if I ever had to do it again but maybe a better bit would have been all I needed.

A pool of oil sounds like a good idea.

Just realised that this is in the 'Sets and Parts Wanted' section. Apologies for continuing a conversation here but I'd be very interested to know how the OP gets on with this.