cut glass

here's a couple of glasses that i cut down and are now holding some of my craft supplies like washi tape and twine and little scissors. these are cut lambic bottles - which i have found to be the most successful bottles to cut. other bottles have been too thin or too thick making it iffy to cut. if they're too thin or too thick they often crack off from the score line and are then trash. i've tried with champagne bottles, which would make a really nice thick little dish, but have yet to succeed at cutting one of those. so the method i use to cut bottles is with my ephrems bottle cutter. the ephrems cutter is set up so you can lay your bottle on it's side on some roller things. you can adjust the length/height to where you want to score your bottle. you apply a little pressure while rotating your bottle and a little blade scores a line - don't go around more than once it does not help that score line at all, it actually hurts it. you will notice when you've come around full circle because you'll hear a tiny little crunch and you will feel a difference as well. now i've tried the candle method and butane torch method, but what has been most successful for me is the hot water technique. For this process, you boil some water or get it really hot and alternate pouring the hot water along your score line with cold water from your faucet. be patient and take your time. the thickness of your bottle will dictate how many times you have to alternate back and forth with the hot and cold water. and when it cracks along that score line you will hear it. if it's a clean crack you will be able to just simply separate the two parts of your bottle. and to finish off the edges and smooth them down; i use grit with a little water added on top of a piece of old glass. put your glass upside down and rotate around in small little circles on your grit slurry mix until smooth. then take some fine grain wet sand paper to the edges of that cut to bevel just slightly. and you're done. with these glasses i also etched designs on them with armour etch cream. i create a negative with sticker vinyl, stick that to the glass, apply the cream, wait and rinse. oh, and the best way to get all the gum residue from the label off the bottle in the first place is with goo gone :)