Make Something: Simple Glass Cutting

 

I need a little thrill every now and then.

Like a joy ride in the country, jaywalking, going on a scary carnival ride ... or lighting stuff on fire.

You heard me.

This is a fun, easy, and surprisingly safe project to make your own vases, glasses or candle holders that — I'm warning you, now — get's addicting. And it's not only a thrill, but it's also fun to apply physics to crafting.

You'll need:

Bottles

Acetone, like nail polish remover

Yarn, I've found that a poly-cotton blend is good

Sandpaper

1. Clean your bottles thoroughly and let dry.

2. Wrap the yarn three or four times around the bottle where you want the break of to be.
Knot and cut the yarn. If your glass is pretty thick, you'll want to double up the yarn.
Beer bottles are the easiest to break, while wine and liquor bottles take a bit more juice.

3. Take the yarn off the bottle, keeping the loops intact. Saturate it in the nail polish remover.
I put some in a little bowl and dipped the yarn in it.

4. Put the yarn back around the bottle. Arrange it so the edges are straight (especially the top layer of yarn,) unless, of course, you want it angled, which is cool. Try not to manhandle it too much, though.
You want to keep the acetone in the yarn, not dripping down the bottle.

 

5. Fill a your sink with water. You want the water as cold as possible — I even added some ice.

6.  Over the sink, light the yarn on fire. Rotate the bottle continuously until the flame extinguishes itself — about 60 seconds. This sounds crazy, but the fire really does stay contained to the yarn, and this is a safe inside project. Wash your hands after handling the saturated yarn and lighting it on fire, though, and for god's sake:
Use good judgment!

7. When the flames extinguish, plunge the bottle immediately into the water. It should crack on its own, but a small tap with the back of a spoon could help a stubborn bottle along.

Sometimes, they won't break at all, and don't force it. You'll just have to try again, and double up on the yarn. It probably didn't break because the glass was thicker than you thought. Remember, please: It's not perfect. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won't. Sometimes your edges will crack, sometimes it will break clean. It's science, but it's not exact. Experiment with it.

8. Thoroughly sand the edges of the bottle, inside and out. I tried both sand paper and my Dremel (which, if you chose to do, use eye protection and do it outside!) 

If sanded correctly, these former bottles would be safe enough to drink from.

Make one — or if you're like me — go clean out the recycling center of all the cool bottles and have a ball!  The vases in these pictures were made from Peirre water, olive oil, Fanta and Tabasco sauce bottles.

Come back soon to see what I did to them for Halloween.

________

HH