Sunday, June 27, 2010

DIY Wine Glasses

For a long time I have lusted over those glasses that are made from old wine bottles. They are so cool. I mean really- a wine glass made from a wine bottle? Love it! I know you can buy those wine bottle cutters but I've heard its a lot of work and very time consuming. So after thinking some more about it I wondered it I could use my Dremel tool to do some of the heavy lifting.

I did some research and there is lots of info online on using a Dremel to cut glass (even though the company that makes Dremel says that is not one of the intended uses.) I thought it was worth a try though~

So I gathered my materials:


2 wine bottles (these were easy to get a hold of!)
Dremel Tool with Diamond Cutting Bit (or one the Bottle Cutters you can buy if you don't have a Dremel)
Masking Tape
Pen
Safety Goggles and Mask
Water
Sand Paper 


                                                            
First I started out by giving the bottles a nice warm bath to take the labels off.
                          

See? Nice and clean!

                          

I used a glass I already had to measure the height I wanted to cut. Then I put the masking tape around the bottle. 




                          

The purpose of the masking tape is to help keep the glass shards from flying everywhere.


                   

I again used my glass as a guide to draw the exact line I wanted to cut.




I again want to stress safety gear here. You should always wear goggle when cutting anything. The mask is important to- you don't want to breath in glass shards!

                          

After I had my bottles all measured it was time to take it outside. I brought plenty of water because in my reading it was stressed that keeping the Dremel cool by dipping it in water was important. And to spray the glass with water periodically so it wouldn't overheat and crack. (Notice the baby monitor in the background?)


                         

For the first few cuts I kept the tape on. Don't put to much pressure on the glass with the Dremel; let the tool do the work. To much pressure can cause the glass to break. I dipped the Dremel in the water every 10 - 20 seconds. And after each full pass around the bottle I sprayed it with water.

                        

After a few full passes around the bottle I took the tape off. I found that holding the bottle with the open end towards you helped keep any breakage on the part of the bottle I wasn't going to be using.

                        

And just when I thought it may not work- it did! The bottle broke cleanly in half.

                             

I read that to smooth the glass down use sand paper in a tub of water. Start with a heavy grit and work your way down to a fine. Well that was taking for ever....

                       

So I cheated and used the grinding bit on my Dremel. It worked really well!



Then I used the polishing bit to polish the edges smooth.

                           

Now all done! They are pretty cool and I'm really happy with them. I love that they are a recycled product and the materials are easy (and fun) to come by. 


13 comments:

Mal Pal said...

Do you need more glasses? I can surely come buy and help you drink all that wine.

junkermidge said...

That is so cool! I love it! Maybe I'll have to give it a try -- yours turned out great.
Midge

redchuckstress said...

YOu are a crafting queeen I love it!

Alison said...

What a great project! It would make a great gift as well :)

Anonymous said...

put a sanding sponge in the water and it will sand a better edge

Unknown said...

Thanks for the sanding sponge tip- I'll definitely try it next time.

Anonymous said...
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Roeshel said...

Rachelle - you're the Dremel queen! Thanks for sharing your glass cutting tips! Love the wine glass glasses!

Roeshel

Stephanie Lynn @Under the Table and Dreaming said...

Love this project. What a neat idea! They turned out fabulous! Thanks so much for linking to the DIY Club! Hope you have a wonderful weekend! ~ Stephanie Lynn

Katie said...

Wow I can't believe you did this and it worked!!! Awesome when you have an idea and you see it go from in your head to in your hand!

Peggy said...

Are you still using these glasses? I have been exploring different methods for making glasses from bottles but so far no go.... Have you make more since? We have an awesome collection of bottles from different
types of french and italian sodas!

Thank you so very much for any info you can share!

kstoneking said...

These are cool! And so easy! I have an idea and a question, though.

Idea: What about using the OTHER end of the bottle for a wine glass--the neck of the bottle would actually be the stem of the glass. Maybe glue the very bottom of the bottle to the opening of the neck to make a bottom for the glass. But you'd have to fill in the neck somehow. Just a thought--now that I've written it, I'm not sure I like it anymore. :/

Question: What Dremel do you have? I want to get one, but I'm not sure where to start; after all, I don't want to quickly "outgrow" whichever one I choose to buy. What are your suggestions?

Kelley

Unknown said...

I never would have thought of that! Even better-it gives me a "reason" to buy more wine. lol. Cheers.
Now if only I can find my Dremmel...the one my hubby got me for my B-day, only to steal ...I mean use for work...and not return. :/