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#bottlecutter
Do you save glass bottles and jars then find yourself not knowing what to do with them? There are several things you can do with bottle just by painting it, covering it with something or turning it upside to make a bottle tree.
If you want to take it up a notch, you can cut bottles and make them useful in other ways. I received the AGPtEK Bottle Cutter to review and it is really neat.
It's called a cutter, but it doesn't actually cut the bottle for you. It scores the glass so it will break. While it's fun, this is a craft that takes patience. Lots of patience! There are multiple adjustment points on the bottle cutter so you can adjust it to fit the bottle and where you want it to break. You'll definitely want to practice first, but once you get the hang of it, you'll want to do more!
You adjust each of the points by using the included allen wrench to loosen, move the part and then re-tighten the bolts. You only have to loosen them a little to be able to move the parts, but not so much that the square nuts come off the backsides of them. You might find it useful to hold the square nuts in place with a pair of pliers. There are rubber feet on the bottom that help hold it still while your scoring the bottle.
I get my water ready before I start so that once I am done scoring a couple bottles, the water is ready. I have a large tea kettle that works awesome for the hot water and I fill a large pot with cold water and put it in our cooler while I'm scoring. Adding ice cubes right before your ready to start the water baths helps keep it cold. I have my glass measuring cup handy for dipping cold water out of the pan. It is VERY helpful to have something like that with a handle for pouring.
It's not always perfect
And sometimes it is!
Attention to detail will greatly increase your success rate. Make sure the bottle is going to be scored where you want it by double checking where the scorer is hitting the bottle. If you're like me, the natural inclination might be to turn the bottle away from you, but you're supposed to turn it towards you and it does work better that way. You'll notice in my photos the bottle neck is pointed towards the right. You may be more comfortable with the bottle neck pointing towards the left. I am left handed and the way I do it is what feels comfortable to me. That sometimes means I do things backwards when compared to the way others do them. I recommend wearing gloves because there is a small amount of "glass dust" created when scoring. And also it's glass. It's possible that a defective bottle could break in your hands.
As you are turning the bottle, keep a firm grip on it so it doesn't slide around while also applying some pressure. If it's quiet while you are doing this you can hear the scorer working. You'll need to watch your score line because you only want to go around the bottle once. If you go more than that, you are creating multiple score lines and it causes the bottle to crack instead of a clean break when you do the water baths.
Once I have scored a couple bottles, I move my heated teakettle, the pot of cold water next to the sink and go ahead and dip out some of the cold water into my large pyrex measuring cup. I also place a washcloth or towel in the sink to prevent the glass that falls off from shattering. Starting with the hot water, pour it over the score line for a few seconds, turning the bottle back and forth as you do. Put down the hot water and immediately repeat the same thing with the cold water.. Repeat with hot then cold again. For the soda bottles I have been using, they usually break after two hot and two cold baths, every once in awhile it takes three. It may take more or less depending on the thinckness of the bottle you're using. You can usually hear a little cracking sound right before the end falls off the bottle. You won't have to touch it or tap it on anything. It will just fall off.
As I mentioned, it takes patience and also some concentration on what you're doing, but it is very gratifying once you get a feel for it. I was so excited when I got a great break! You can make lots of different things once you've cut them. You can use thing rope or jute to make a hanging plant rooting container, candle holders, oil diffusers... You can paint the glass or glue things to it. Whatever you can imagine, these are little blank canvases for your creations!
#bottlecutter
This is something teens might enjoy doing as well. It provides you another dimension to recycling your glass bottles and jars so you can save them from the landfill. The Bottle Cutter could be a great gift too! Check it out on Amazon and save up those bottles!
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Disclosure: I received the items mentioned above for the purpose of review. The opinions expressed are 100% my own based on my usage of the product. You opinion and experience may differ. This post may contain affiliate links which simply means if you click these links and decide to purchase, I may make a small commission. This is at no cost to you, but it can help me a little and I thank you!
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