Help! need a good bottle cutter

[insertusername]

Anyone have a suggestion on a good bottle cutter.   i got an Armour and it sucks!  I cant get a good score line.  Thanks for your help!

[apis_melis]

I have one of these:

http://www.greenpowerscience.com/BOTTLECUTTING.php3

It has worked very well for me. The design is great because it rotates from the center rather than the edge. It accommodates a wide range of sizes.

A few tips:

The aluminum is a little bendy, so be gentle.

Keep the neck snug on the cone.

Go smoothly, go evenly, but never go back! Stopping short by a millimeter or two is better than overshooting your starting point. To make it easier to see, I mark a blob with Sharpie before beginning and start there.

Use a little oil on the wheel. I use 3-in-1 because it was lying around. You may want to check with stained glass artists to see what they use.

I think the video shows it being used upright. I am butterfingered, so I put it flat on a table.

Be sure the arms are perpendicular when the butterflies are tightened.

Use boiling water. Not hot, boiling. I got an electric kettle for $20 that plugs in right next to the sink. It also makes great tea.

Alternate boiling water with cold, running the streams right on the cut line. Watch for the mirrored ribbon to run around the bottle and listen for the clear bell-like tinkle. A dull sound indicates a crack or irregularity that will probably be fatal to one or both pieces.

Hope this helps. Happy bottlecrafting!

[Kaymar]

I have one of these:

http://www.greenpowerscience.com/BOTTLECUTTING.php3

It has worked very well for me. The design is great because it rotates from the center rather than the edge. It accommodates a wide range of sizes.

A few tips:

The aluminum is a little bendy, so be gentle.

Keep the neck snug on the cone.

Go smoothly, go evenly, but never go back! Stopping short by a millimeter or two is better than overshooting your starting point. To make it easier to see, I mark a blob with Sharpie before beginning and start there.

Use a little oil on the wheel. I use 3-in-1 because it was lying around. You may want to check with stained glass artists to see what they use.

I think the video shows it being used upright. I am butterfingered, so I put it flat on a table.

Be sure the arms are perpendicular when the butterflies are tightened.

Use boiling water. Not hot, boiling. I got an electric kettle for $20 that plugs in right next to the sink. It also makes great tea.

Alternate boiling water with cold, running the streams right on the cut line. Watch for the mirrored ribbon to run around the bottle and listen for the clear bell-like tinkle. A dull sound indicates a crack or irregularity that will probably be fatal to one or both pieces.

Hope this helps. Happy bottlecrafting!

That video is pretty impressive. Have you been pretty successful with this method? As in more than 50% of the time, lol.
Thanks!

[apis_melis]

I have since moved to a tile saw with diamond blade, but when I was using the glass cutter I got about 75% good cuts on a great day. It is a groove thing. Not just that it cuts a groove, but it takes regular practice. When I went a week or two between tries, my first few cuts would suck. This is true of many tools, even including a saw. It is good to keep a few practice bottles on hand to warm up on. I can't say that I have tried every cutter on the market, but the Green Power design is the best I have used.

Bear in mind that few bottles are made with even walls, so some will fail no matter what method you use because the internal tensions are too irregular. Heavier bottles (used for champagne and some liquor) are more resilient; beer and Two Buck Chuck bottles can be dicey. The price of the contents is not a good indicator of bottle quality. If you inspect the bottom, you can sometimes see a thickening on one side. This is an indicator to be especially careful, or to make friends with a tile setter.

Hope this helps.