Bottle Repair

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azokie

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Hi -

Does anyone have advice on how to repair cracks or dings in a bottle? Is there a way to make the cracks or dings appear less visible?

Can anybody refer a professional bottle repair technician?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks -
Brent
 

BRIAN S.

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Hi azokie and welcome to the forum !
Cracks are not fixable as far as I know at the current time. Dings/chips can be repaired with epoxy and other new fillers at the present time. I have seen some VERY , VERY good repairs to chips that are almost undetectable to the naked eye and only showed up under blacklight . But , it is quite costly to have these repairs done by a professional.
You may want to try the repair yourself if it's not a valuable bottle.
Brian
 

kumtow

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Hi Azokie and Brian,

A few years ago I had the oportunity to buy a Thistle whiskey (circa 1850) that had a crack about 2 inches long. This is a very rare and sought after Aussie bottle and it was very cheap. Before I bought it I was watching a glass blower in a shopping center blowing dolphins and other animals etc. When he had a break I asked him if anything could be done with this bottle ie Heating it with his blow torch until the glass at the crack refused. He explained that this would be very dangerous as the impurities in the old glass and in the crack would probably make it explode. I didn't bother buying the bottle, once they are cracked, they are cracked.
 

BRIAN S.

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Alan
My Brother and I have been working on a method to repair cracks ( without reheating the glass ) or to at least make the crack less visible. We may be barking up the wrong tree ! But , we are experiment a little and we will let you know how it goes. Who knows ..... we may come up with something ! Brian
 

Gunsmoke47

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Hey azokie, as Brian and Alan have stated, cracks are bad news but fellow forum member baltbottles (Chris Rowell) repairs chips and nicks and the like. He has done one for me and I was very pleased. You might email him and tell him what you got. I'm sure he would tell you if he could help you or not. Kelley
 

kumtow

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Hi Woody,
Mate, how the hell do you apply superglue to the inside of a crack? Or do you mean the inside of the bottle? If I could get superglue to the inside of a crack the bottle would be broken, wouldn't it? [8|]
I am about to put superglue on the inside of lots of cracks in a 2 foot tall display Roses Cordial bottle. I bought it from the UK and sadly it arrived in about 80 pieces.[X(]
 

azokie

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Thanks to all who have responded. I really appreciate the information. I'd like to see any other good advice as well.

Sincerely -
Brent
 

woody

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I believe they use the same technique they use on repairing cracks in windshieds, Alan.
Although I've never tried it I've heard that some cracks can be repaired with this method. I don't know how you would repair a crack that is inside the glass, but if a crack has broken through the surface of the glass it should be able to absorb the adhesive.
If I dig a bottle with a crack I usually will toss it aside and leave it where it lies, unless it's a super rare bottle.
Some people will bring black lights to bottle shows to see if a bottle has been glued/repaired in any way. I guess the glue will show up under the light.
 

kumtow

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Hmmmm... That is food for thought Woody. I think I'll go find out. We have a number of those repair shops where I live. Too late for me to buy that Thistle whisky thought as it is gone.
Thanks for that Woody, your not just a pretty face after all.[:D]
 

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