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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on February 19, 2016 at 6:40pm

;-) 

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Permalink Reply by Frank Carr on February 19, 2016 at 7:07pm

I bought a Diamond Tech Crafts G2 Bottle Cutter to keep things aligned. I had seen the videos on making a jig to handle the cutting but needed something that was more flexible for use in other, non-slide, projects. It worked OK but I'll probably put together a jig to make it a bit easier.

So far as shocking, I used boiling water in a 2 gallon pot and ice water in a 1 gallon plastic pitcher. This worked OK, maybe about a 75% success rate. I think some of the bottles I was using were on the thin side and tended to crack rather easily. The thicker bottles did better.

One trick I'm still trying to figure out is getting smoother, rounded, edges around the cut edge. I guess I'll break out the Dremel for that. They're OK and quite usable with hand wet sanding but I'd like to get them a bit better looking.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Davis on February 19, 2016 at 7:41pm

I don't worry too much about the sanding--just so it's smooth enough not to cut a finger.  I like the rough look/homemade look

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Permalink Reply by Bluesheart on February 20, 2016 at 9:53am

Yep, I've my best success with similar technique. The key is clean, straight score line. The hardest part is getting the inside edge smooth enough after parting. I end up with the dremmel and a grinding stone but OMG is that dangerous on every level and leaves me wondering if the risks are worth it. I do love having a bottle neck vs a mass produced one and also like to include one with each build. Someone in here posted a source for inexpensive pyrex type slides (can't find link) and tempted to take that road.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on February 21, 2016 at 6:00am

Or you can do it the old fashioned way, and scratch it on the concrete until its smoothish. I've found this works better and faster than emery paper, Dremel stone tips, and almost any other method. Dribbling a little water on relatively smooth concrete gives a pretty nice ground glass look for very very cheap. It just take elbow grease, a bit of patience, and not trying to force it to go too fast.

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on February 21, 2016 at 8:10am

Sweetwater has Dunlop slides for less than $4... and they ship for free...  

http://www.sweetwater.com/c937--Dunlop--Guitar_Slides

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on February 21, 2016 at 8:08am

I regularly cut wine necks into slides, and with the boiling water/ice water trick I typically get a 75% success rate.  

My most recent attempt, I found that by timing the bottle in the boiling water improved my success rate.  Apparently too much heat causes the piece to spiral fracture.  15 -20 second dips works for me, but it takes a couple of cycles to get that "pop" that lets me remove the top by hand.

I don't drink much anymore, so friends and family save wine bottles for me.  I seem to have better luck with green bottles over clear.  Many of those crack vertically.

To cleanup the edge, I use some 180 grit carbide wet-dry sand paper. I don't put my finger inside, just in case...  to finish sand them, I have some 1/8" craft foam, and I lay sandpaper on that.  the soft backing seems to help...

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Permalink Reply by JL on February 23, 2016 at 1:41am

Has anyone tired a propane torch instead of sandpaper to clean up the cut edge?  I recall in high school chemistry class making glass stir rods and pipets with the bunson burner.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Davis on February 23, 2016 at 4:31am

When I first started trying to make bottle top slides, I did try using a torch.  Not very good results.  I think some 60 grit sandpaper does an adequate job.  I suppose that if you want a perfect radius along the edge, you might try something else.  Again, I like the crude look.  In my mind, imperfection IS perfection. 

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on February 23, 2016 at 6:42pm

I tried once, but it shattered when cooling... I think you might have to put them through an annealing process to get the glass to relax a bit and release the tension...   Hmm... Spa treatment for glass??

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