Bottle Cutting 101

I purchased my own bottle cutter.  Bottle cutting is actually fun WHEN you cut a nice clean line.

What is Bottle Cutting?

Bottle cutting is the process of cutting a glass bottle to use as a light fixture, drinking glass, gift, or vase.

bottle cutting 2

We have a lot of unique glass bottles since we drink local cold brew, raw kombucha, and have a monthly subscription of NingXia Red.  I toyed with shipping my bottles off to a “professional” bottle cutter, but that was going to be outrageously expensive.

kinkajou on counter bottle cutting

I typically accumulate enough bottles and bottle cut for an afternoon.  I look all creative when I give these bottles away as gifts. The reality is that I watched a video and followed the instructions that came with my Kinkajou Bottle Cutter.

I highly recommend you put on some calm music, have a servant heart, apply Peace and Calming essential oil, and then begin bottle cutting.

One time I had 14 bottles to cut and only 4 survived. Had I been slower and patient, I think my success rate would have been considerably higher.

scoring a NingXia Red Bottle cutting

When the blade has completed its journey around your bottle, it is important that you hear a click.  When you don’t hear that click, it means that your scoring line is uneven.  Two things will happen — your bottle lip won’t be even and creates drip-age when you sip (which can be embarrassing for an adult) and the likelihood of the glass cracking is highly probable.

cut bottle cutting scored edges ningxia red

What do you need to cut bottles?

General Steps for Bottle Cutting

Try to evenly tighten Kinkajou around desired bottle.

bottle cutting 3 scoring blade

Heat electric kettle.

Listen for a click after you have gently twisted the Kinkajou around the bottle.

bottle cutting 1

Gently loosen Kinkajou cutter by lifting black handles.

Place paper towels in your sink to collect glass that will drop.

Put separation ties above and below the score line.

Ningxia Red bottle scored and ready to cut

Being careful to keep your fingers from the hot water, continuously drizzle hot water along the score line.

hot water for bottle cutting ningxia red

Immediately run cold water over the score line.

cold water bottle cutting

Repeat until the top of the bottle falls off onto the paper towel in the sink.

Keep water running.

cold water running with sander bottle cutting

Sand using the larger bit Diamond Sander under the water.

metal sander for bottle cutting

Smooth over any roughness with the smaller bit Diamond Sander, all while under the water.

find sander bottle cutting

Clean up and give as a gift!

bottle cutting 101

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