How to use improvised means in 20 seconds and the first time to cut a glass bottle evenly
I'll start from afar. I came across an article in Zen. The girl wanted to make a lamp out of glass bottles. I tried a dozen ways to cut them, I moved a box of glass containers, but I did not achieve anything. In the comments I saw dozens of stories about how methods “from the Internet” do not work. I will share a method that I have repeatedly tested in practice. It definitely works.
A small disclaimer. The last time I had to cut bottles was twenty years ago: school, a lot of free time and hands that need to be attached somewhere. I am certainly not a musketeer, but let's see what happens 20 years later.
The first problem came from where it was not expected. Our family does not drink alcohol (from the word in general). Where can I get a bottle? Buy a beer and pour it out? To rob homeless people? Fortunately, it didn't come to that. I did find one bottle.
- One bottle.
- One try.
- Success or failure. Go.
Before you start, you need to prepare a little. We will need:
- Glass bottle (where without it).
- Plastic bottle - 2 pcs (diameter slightly larger than glass).
- Marker or felt-tip pen (the main thing is not to take away from the child by force).
- Ice cream stick (the tastier the ice cream was, the better).
- Transformer (in my case, an old computer power supply).
- Nichrome thread (just don't gut your grandmother's electric samovar).
- A pinch of other tools to taste (utility knife, awl, pasatizh, etc.)
Instead of nichrome, kanthal is suitable. You can buy it for a penny at any store for vapers (e-cigarette smokers).
Preparation
We collect water in one plastic bottle and put it in the freezer for 30 minutes. Cut off the neck of the second plastic bottle.
Mark the glass bottle with a marker. It is important! How to evenly mark round parts I wrote here. We use the third method.
Cut the ice cream stick into three parts. We make holes in two. We pass a nichrome wire through them and fix it on a twist. The length of the wire between the sticks is 5-7 mm less than the circumference of the bottle (in the place where we will cut).
We connect the power source to the wire. We select the parameters so that the thread warms up to red. In my case, the power supply provides 12V 10A.
We cut the bottle
We take out water from the freezer and pour it into a cut bottle. The faster we proceed further, the higher the chances of success (you need to keep the water cold).
We wrap the bottle with nichrome wire along the markings.
Between the two sticks on which the wire is fixed, we insert the third. Remember that there should be a distance of 5-7 mm between them? After heating, the wire will stretch a little and the sticks will close. The one in the middle serves as an insulator and prevents the circuit from short-circuiting.
It looks like this:
We turn on the power supply. By the way, the wire won't turn red. The glass takes over the temperature.
After turning on the power supply, we count to twenty.
Turn off the power supply, remove the nichrome, and quickly lower the bottle into COLD water. Op.
The glass broke exactly along the heating line.
The evenness of the cut can be estimated from this photo:
What mistakes can be
- Insufficient temperature difference. A crack is formed due to stresses that appear at the time of a sharp change in temperature. If the water was not cold enough or the nichrome was not hot enough, the glass may not crack or crack just like.
- Holding time. If you heat the bottle for too long, it will burst without water, but the crack will just go like. If the bottle is not heated, it will not burst even in water. How much to warm? It must be determined empirically. For beer bottles made of thin glass - 20 seconds. Wine - 30-40 seconds. From under champagne - time can go up to a minute.
Remember when I wrote about the importance of markup? So, until you know exactly how much you will have to heat, several approaches may be required. If the bottle does not burst, the markings will allow heating in the same place. I wish you success!
Frankly, I don’t know who this information can be useful to. But judging by the heated discussions of the article, where I saw a sea of broken bottles, someone still needs it. Therefore, if the material was helpful, you know what to do. Subscribe to a channel here.