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I have seen lots of methods for cutting the top from a wine bottle and tried a few. However, I noticed that when I remove the top of the wine bottle, the area cut is always really jagged. Nothing a lot sandpaper and time cant fix, but I would really like to know which method is the best for a clean cut.

The one I have tried is scoring the out side of a bottle, use a candle to heat around the score, and then use ice to immediately cool the glass down. This is done repeatedly until the glass breaks.

I need a clean break because I want to use the bottom half of the bottle as a drinking glass.

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    Why are you cutting wine bottles? – apaul Jan 8 '15 at 17:28
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    I can't locate it now, but I saw a Youtube video a while ago (IIRC the guy who put it out calls himself "Crazy Russian Hacker") who did it cleanly, by wrapping the bottle with string soaked in some flammable liquid, and then lighting it. ....I never tried it, but from the video it looked like it was a clean break. – Shokhet Jan 8 '15 at 17:30
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    @apaul34208 The bottom half of wine bottles make pretty sweet drinking glasses. – Jake Robinson Jan 8 '15 at 17:33
  • @JakeRobinson It may be worth adding that info to the question. At first I thought you were asking about sabrage. – apaul Jan 8 '15 at 17:36
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    makezine.com/2010/03/08/how-to-cut-a-wine-bottle-in-30-seco, do you really need a hack? – J. Musser Jan 8 '15 at 20:02
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Getting a glass cutter or even using one for plumbing pipe to score the glass.. than bake the glass in a oven, 150 deg for 10 min or so than take a cold rag around the area above the scored area wanting removal. should snap right off.. If its still sharp use a torch to round the top off

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  • Hello, Welcome to Life Hacks Stack Exchange! As you will learn a Life Hack is a alternative and not a product suggestion! You should explain your post more and add pictures to promote your response! What's more any products that you suggest to use you should try stating alternatives to use instead :) These are just some suggestions. I hope to see you around Life Hacks Stack Exchange and have a nice day :) If you have any questions go to Chat or Meta and I or somebody else would be more than happy to help you out :) – Pobrecita Jan 8 '15 at 23:18
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    @darthnesscoveredthesky - Why are you posting irrelevant comments by posting comments that doesn't apply to the post? He didn't make any production suggestions, saying "get a glass cutter or even a pipe cutter" to cut a bottle seems no different than saying "use a screwdriver" to loosen a screw. If you have problems with the lack of detail in his post, you should state that clearly in your comment rather than start off by saying that it's a production suggestion. – Johnny Jan 9 '15 at 1:18
  • @Johnny This post appears to be promoting certain products and not explaining the process enough. I think that if pictures are added and the products named are defined then this post would be better. I am sorry for posting something that is confusing and if you see any other problem I would be happy to explain. – Pobrecita Jan 9 '15 at 1:26
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    @darthnesscoveredthesky I think this post is fine -- it describes a method to do what the OP wanted. I wouldn't describe this one as product recommendation, but it's not a problem. See meta.lifehacks.stackexchange.com/a/17/59, for example. – Shokhet Jan 9 '15 at 1:32
  • He suggested using a tool appropriate for the job, I fail to see a problem with that. When you want to cut glass, the best thing to do is use a glass cutter, that's not a product recommendation. If he said "Use the Acme A-101 Glass Cutter", that would be a product recommendation, but merely suggesting an appropriate tool is not. – Johnny Jan 9 '15 at 1:33
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In the 70's I had one of these http://www.victorialouise.co.uk/bottle-chopper-fun

In fact I think it is still in the garage in a box.

Basically an aluminium jig holds a bog-standard glasscutter in place so you can make a perfectly horizontal score on the bottle's outside surface.

Then you adjust a bent metal rod with effectively a washer on the end so that when it is placed inside the bottle it lines up horizontally exactly against the score line.

Then you tap the washer against the glass until you see a crack start, and continue tapping whilst rotating the bottle to propagate the crack all the way round.

It works well enough, but there are risks of imperfect results if the initial scoring isn't even - e.g. if there is grease/oil/fingerprints on the glass the cutter may slip rather than score.

Once chopped, you grind down the edge with wet and dry paper (coarse grades down to flour-grade) or use various grades of carborundum powder on a sheet of flat glass. A labour of love really but really quite satisfying when it works. I used to make pint (approx) beer glasses out of Spar orange-squash bottles (all I could afford to drink at uni!).. but boy was the glass quality dodgy?! - you could only tell once chopped - the thickness could vary from 1mm to 5mm.... another reason for failure in the initial chop.

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