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Comment by Darryl Tuttle on December 10, 2015 at 2:44pm

i had a bottle cutter in the 70;s,,it had a wire that went around the bottle, and heated up...worked pretty good ..cant help with any technical data on it though, i dont remember much else about it

Comment by Bruce on November 25, 2015 at 3:49am

Hi Terry, this jig pretty much just cuts at the neck.  It's rather limited to that area. Google "bottle cutters" and you will find a ton of different homemade designs that might work for what you want.  One draw back I have found with this jig is that it only works with bottles that are straight. In other words, the main part of the bottle must be straight, any flair in the main part of the bottle and you get wobble that messes up the cut. Take care and thanks for the nice comment.

Comment by Terry Brennan on November 24, 2015 at 1:10pm

Bruce I am very interested in making a bottle cutter. I love your design,especially the spring! One question...is this jig designed for only the necks,or can you cut any where on the bottle? I guess I'm asking if the cutter assembly can be moved. Nice Work!

Comment by Bruce on March 17, 2015 at 3:01pm

Look at the blue bottle in the background of the picture.  That cut was perfectly straight across the neck. I made two slides out of that one.  It had a very long straight neck.

Comment by Bruce on March 17, 2015 at 2:57pm

I have found that the cut is better when the score is not very deep at all.  Just a light scoring is best.  The main thing is to only score once- don't go over it at all. And, you want the line of the score to match perfectly beginning to end. You don't want any spiraling. It will not work if it spirals. The score should begin and end so that it is one clean line around the bottle.  That is the main reason for the jig, to hold the bottle in one place as you turn so that the beginning of the score will match up with its start.

Dip the neck in boiling water to just above the score, about 40 seconds. Your hand will get hot, so wear a glove.  Then dip it in ice water up to just above the score for about 20 seconds.  Repeat until it pops off at the score. Sometimes it comes off in the cold water, sometimes the hot. Sand the edges with 220 grit sandpaper.

When it finally works you be amazed at how clean a cut you can get.  I've had them so clean they almost didn't need to be sanded.

Comment by TN Twang on March 16, 2015 at 3:58am

During the snow storms I managed to ruin 4 wine bottles in failed attempts. I think my scoring (with an improvised jig) is pretty accurate, but the breaks are never straight along the score lines.

Score shallower? Score deeper? Hotter water? Ideas???

I wouldn't mind emptying another case of wine bottles if you can come up with 12 new ideas.

Comment by Bruce on March 15, 2015 at 1:10pm

Thanks Muddy Creek,

I put this one together from about 4 different designs I saw on line. I used what I had on hand. The rubber casters work well.  If you look up bottle cutters online you will see many ways of cutting a bottle, some good, some not so good. After scoring, dip the end up to the score in boiling water.  Get it real hot and then put it in ice water up to the score.  Repeat if you need to.  It will eventually separate.

Comment by Muddy Creek Guitars on March 15, 2015 at 12:26pm

This is genius! I've been trying to make a bottle cutting gig myself with no success. I'm going to have to try this.