bottle cutting

[Anthea]

hello, i'm keen to cut some wine bottles for work. i have an ephrem's bottle cutter but battle a bit. so many prescribed methods to break after the score. any tips? also what about cutting the bottle neck? is there an adapter to use for that. and something else, polarized film to check for incompat cracks. where would i get that and what ought i to ask for ... pref in the UK? very many thanks

[Brad Walker]

Most bottle cutters don't do a very good job. If you have access to a tile saw, that will work much better and faster, especially if you use the saw with a blade made for cutting glass. Tile saws can cut all the way through the glass; with bottle cutters, it's difficult to get a scored bottle to run in the right direction, and most of the methods I've seen (such as heating the score) don't work consistently. By contrast, the tile saw can easily cut both the body and the neck.

Regarding incompatibility, are you wanting to test for cracks in a single bottle? If so, those aren't incompatibility cracks; incompatibility stems from melting two or more bottles together. If those crack, in most cases you can assume it's incompatibility without bothering to test (it's common for bottles not to be compatible with each other). Polarized film is more useful for testing before you fuse two bottles together. That's difficult to do because it's a destructive test (you have to cut up the bottles to test them).

[Stephen Richard]

Anthea,
You can contact me at info@stained-glass-supply.co.uk for polarised light filters if you like, but as Brad says, they are for use after fusing.

[Anthea]

Many thanks Stephen, email on its way ...

Very many thanks Brad. Actuallly want to test incompat in fused glass, separate to the bottles. re the tile saw, that's really helpful. thank you. I'll see if i can beg/borrow/steal one. sounds like its just what i need. thanks again.

[Anthea]

oooops sorry Brad, quick one, optimum tile saw? such a range out there, not sure where to start. any you'd particularly recommend? again, many thanks

[Stephen Richard]

I use a simple one from B&Q. The larger one is about £50. The smaller one is £40 or so, but the extra is worth it for the slightly larger depth of cut

[Anthea]

Thank you Stephen. which model is it? i've got to buy online as live outside of the uk (in africa ...) , have looked at a few on ebay/amazon but am a bit bamboozled. v many thanks again.

[Stephen Richard]

Yeah. I thought you were in the UK ( one of the drawbacks of not stating your location in your profile)
Any small tile cutter will do. Your local DIY store will have one and it will do.