Neat way to cut wine bottles

[noora]

A friend of mine found this youtube video on how to cut wine bottles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFXngPx3w3M

Would this be useful if you want to make strips of bottle glass for bead making? If you cut off the top and bottom to get a tube, how would you go on cutting the tube into strips?

[Pat from Canvey]

If you've cut off the top and bottom of the bottle, cutting the strips is easy. Just score longitudinally all the way around the bottle and tap along each strip so the cut runs from start to finish. I cut the bottle by first scoring the top and cooling the whole bottle in cold water. Then keeping the bottle in the water but emptying it, refill with water at about 150deg F. The score should run around the bottle letting the top seperate from the base. Having said all that, I have tended to flatten the bottle cylinder halves in my big kiln. At a certain temp, the cylinder will unfold and stay flat. I used this method when I wanted to incorporate bottle glass in a stained glass panel.

[Magpie]

Thanks for this, I'll give it a go next time and let you know how I get on.

[Magpie]

I had a go. Yes it's easy and no it's not. My score round the top was nowhere near as neat as his, but after a bit of pouring hot then cold water on it I heard the telltale crack. A couple more times and the neck of the bottle came off fairly cleanly (relative to the score I made that is). I then scored the bottle lengthwise (all the way round) and thought I'd use a shortcut and filled the bottle with hot water. That cracked one of the lengthwise scores most of the way up and water started leaking out. Another crack and when I picked it up the bottom came off rather cleanly even though I hadn't scored round that. Unfortunately even after boiling another kettle and doing the hot water cold water thing that's about as far as I got, so later I'll be firing up the torch and attacking the bottle with a hot glass rod.
So to sum up, it was cleaner and more accurate than my other method, but not as easy to break the whole bottle.
Also be careful, you're breaking glass so wear safety specs and watch out coz the steam from the kettle steams them up!

[rocky]

I've had a go too with the water. I only cut off the base of the bottle, but it came away real clean. When I get more time I'll have another crack (ooh - 'scuse the pun there! )

Looks very promising.

[Pat from Canvey]

I've found that using his method, it's best to keep the water temperature at 150F, using my old jam thermometer. If you go higher, the bottom of the bottle breaks off as some of you found. If you boil the kettle, the water is too hot.

[Magpie]

Can we have a bowl of water at 150°F and dunk from hot to cold instead of pouring?