Bryan, who might as well just join Pinterest already, spent part of Sunday on a pretty exciting craft project: converting bottles into glassware by a process of heating and then breaking at strategic points.
He soaked kitchen twine in acetate, wrapped it tightly around the bottle, and then lit it on fire. (The girls were transfixed.)
Then, as the flame went out, he plunged the bottle into icy water, and in most cases, the bottle broke at the designated place.
It worked well with thin beer bottles, but not as well with anything larger (like liquor bottles).
He ended up with a couple of new drinking glasses that just need a quick swipe of sandpaper to smooth the edge.
Has anyone else tried this process? Any suggestions?
Smith Family Weblog 
Posted by dougsmith2013 on October 18, 2013 at 9:25 am
I bought a kit in the early ’70s that cracked the glass from the inside. A gizmo hung from a stopper and you banged it around in the circle. I think the glass was scored somehow on the outside. The result was very similar. My vision of creating gifts that didn’t cost me anything to give to family and friends on holidays was crushed when I realized after two bottles, I was sick of the whole thing. The kit might possibly be somewhere in the crawl space. If so, I’ll give it to Bryan in a few years when I actually venture into the crawl space. That will be my legacy to him.
Posted by Katie on October 18, 2013 at 12:03 pm
I have a Bed, Bath & Beyond coupon you can use the next time you need new glasses. 🙂
Posted by Rebecca's Mom on October 18, 2013 at 10:22 pm
Have you tried wine bottles, Bryan? I have this idea “pinned” on Pinterest. I’m certain Dave will have a stroke if I start bottles on fire in the kitchen sink though. . .
Posted by bryan on October 19, 2013 at 7:09 am
I couldn’t get wine bottles to work. It’s acetone (finger nail polish remover), by the way, not acetate. I think the better way is to score the glass and then alternate between boiling water and cold water (lots of youtube videos on this). There are contraptions to evenly score a glass bottle, though if you have a glass scorer you could probably freehand ok.
The acetone is a bit dangerous, some dripped down the bottle to my hand and then when I lit it, my hand caught fire briefly. Of course being above a sink full of water minimizes that problem.