Broken bottles worth keeping, selling, donating, chucking

[willong]

For eligible broken bottles, I prefer to make a drinking glass out of them. It preserves the embossing and makes a great conversation piece.

I've always admired that solution and have encouraged some of the YouTube bottle diggers who are unearthing a lot of "eligible broken bottles" to preserve or donate the bottles for that purpose, and even donate the shards to crafters who make jewellery, mosaics and such.

 

[willong]

For eligible broken bottles, I prefer to make a drinking glass out of them. It preserves the embossing and makes a great conversation piece.

That's an attractive assortment of embossments; and the tumblers look nicely crafted.

Do you fashion the glasses yourself Dan?

If so, what method(s) do you employ to cut the bottles and finish the cut edges?

 

[DeepSeaDan]

That's an attractive assortment of embossments; and the tumblers look nicely crafted.

Do you fashion the glasses yourself Dan?

If so, what method(s) do you employ to cut the bottles and finish the cut edges?

Yes I do. I use a manual glass cutter, then employ various grades of silicon carbide paper to finish the edges.

 

[willong]

Yes I do. I use a manual glass cutter,

The type used for cutting plate or window glass?

Such as this?

If so, do you hold the cutting tool firmly against a block of wood or something similar to establish height of cut, and then rotate the bottle against the carbide cutter with your other hand?

Do you used a lightweight oil on the cutter, soapy water or cut dry?

I ask because I tried one of those "bottle crafting" gizmos advertised on TV in the 70's--they used a cone to index off the bottle opening--and got quickly frustrated because I could never accomplish a decent cut. Moreover, they were useless, for obvious reasons, for trimming bottles with broken-off necks. I have saved a large stock of modern bottles I'd like to trim in order to make planters; plus, I still have a few neckless antiques that I've been saving for half-a-century to convert to drink glasses. (I'd better get on it if I'm going to do it at all.)

 

[DeepSeaDan]

This is the one I bought:

https://www.amazon.ca/Creators-Bott...=glass+bottle+cutter,kitchen,750&sr=1-36&th=1

With old glass, it was a bit tricky at first to judge the amount of heat to apply to the score-line while rotating the bottle. Too much heat and you run the risk of cracks forming. Uneven heating can cause an improper separation of the glass when cooled. Further, it's important to maintain even downward pressure when making the score line, or you risk an uneven break. I used non-keeper bottles to practice & refine my technique before attempting those bottles I wanted to keep. At times, despite my best efforts, a cut isn't successful, but for me, that has been the exception, not the rule.

There is a video detailing the cutter's use:

Good luck & have fun!

 

[willong]

This is the one I bought:

https://www.amazon.ca/Creators-Bottle-Cutter-Glastoppers-Worldwide/dp/B06WVBD557/ref=sr_1_36?crid=3I63FX20NHCEH&keywords=glass+bottle+cutter&qid=1667125276&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI0LjA3IiwicXNhIjoiMy40NyIsInFzcCI6IjMuMjMifQ==&s=kitchen&sprefix=glass+bottle+cutter,kitchen,750&sr=1-36&th=1

With old glass, it was a bit tricky at first to judge the amount of heat to apply to the score-line while rotating the bottle. Too much heat and you run the risk of cracks forming. Uneven heating can cause an improper separation of the glass when cooled. Further, it's important to maintain even downward pressure when making the score line, or you risk an uneven break. I used non-keeper bottles to practice & refine my technique before attempting those bottles I wanted to keep. At times, despite my best efforts, a cut isn't successful, but for me, that has been the exception, not the rule.

There is a video detailing the cutter's use:

Good luck & have fun!

Thanks Dan, I appreciate your taking the time to elaborate since "glass cutter" is a pretty broad category.

EDIT: I watched the video. That looks like a pretty well thought-out device. I especially like the spring plunger to exert consistent pressure during scoring.

 

[willong]

Oh wow! I'm pretty sure it was before moving to the Olympic Peninsula in October of 1971; thus, I must have purchased one of the first (and subsequently crappiest) bottle cutters to hit the market! (Images below are "borrowed" from Internet sources after searching for "1970's bottle cutter advertisements" refreshed my memory of the product name.)

Meet the original "Fleming Bottle & Jug Cutter"

I certainly wasn't smiling like the pretty model during my bottle cutting attempts.

I can agree with the "Lifetime Tool" part of the promotional statement: Mine has lasted over fifty years, mainly because I gave up trying to produce quality results with it and I hate to thrown away any tool. However, in the product's defense, except when using a machine like the Fletcher 3000 for cutting window glass, I have often been ineffective with my glass-cutting attempts.

I definitely recall the Fleming Bottle & Jug Cutter advertisements running on television, though those might have aired only in my western WA region at the time. Evidently, Fleming was from the Seattle area.

Fleming patent: https://patents.google.com/patent/U...d+jug+cutter&oq=fleming+bottle+and+jug+cutter

It might be time for me to revisit the craft with updated technology .

WL

 

[Mailman1960]

H

What makes you think human beings have that long?

Cause digger's know where to find things you need to survive not the grocery store.

 

[Newtothiss]

Cause digger's know where to find things you need to survive not the grocery store.

Between nuclear war, civil war the crumbling of civility and civilization as we know it, those of us that are left will have minimal time for digging (if any)...

 

[Mailman1960]

Between nuclear war, civil war the crumbling of civility and civilization as we know it, those of us that are left will have minimal time for digging (if any)...

You missed my point, were better than the average bear at finding what you need to survive.