saw for cutting glass bottles

[Nomadnic]

Hello all, I know this post is not related to lapidary but I was hoping someone could help.
I am trying to find a saw and diamond blade suitable for cutting glass bottles. There are so many out there and as I don't know the first thing about them I need help.

Thank you for any ideas

[mehoose]

Welcome to ALF Nic. We get all sorts here, 
Click on the following link and select the glass working category.
Oh...don't forget to come back and show us what you're up to. We love pics. 
http://www.aussiesapphire.com.au/

[Aussie Sapphire]

Back in the dark ages when K-Tel used to advertise stuff on the TV, I vaguely remember them flogging a glass bottle cutting kit - (to make glasses out of old beer bottles ) dont know if it worked at all but I do remember seeing the ads on the telly.

Regarding your job, there are lots of ways to do this job and to some degree will depend on how serious you are and how big the budget is.  Any lapidary saw should do the trick here - sometimes, the raised edge of the saw table can be a problem for glass workers if their pieces extend beyond the edge of the table (eg. large panes of glass or long thin canes).  However, glass bottles are not too large and so should not be a problem.

Any of the diamond blades should work for you - there are specialised glass blades but I suggest a medium type blade (not too thin or not too thick) would work well.

If you want to go budget, we do offer a 7" diamond blade that suits a standard tile saw (with 1" shaft) - we have sold a few of these to glass workers in just the last few weeks (maybe they are talking to each other  ).  Tile Saws are quite affordable and will do the job if you can get a suitable type of blade for your particular job (previously a challenge which is why we got the 7" large bore blades in).

Good Luck.

cheers
Leah

[llarson]

  A couple years ago, I needed to cut the bottom off a glass vase to use the cylinder part for a different purpose. Tried the "score-and-tap" method; end of first vase. Got a Dremel #545 diamond wheel, established my cutline w/elctrical tape, thinking this might also stabilize the cut edge, and rolled the vase in a pan of water as I went around it three or four times with the tool. The cut came off nice and clean. This may or may not suit your purpose, but it worked well. 

[Speckee]

Back in the dark ages when K-Tel used to advertise stuff on the TV, I vaguely remember them flogging a glass bottle cutting kit - (to make glasses out of old beer bottles ) dont know if it worked at all but I do remember seeing the ads on the telly.

They worked a treat! A friend of mine when I was a young tacker, his dad had one and you couldn't shut him up about it. He was sooooo proud of his "unique" glass collection

[Nomadnic]

Thank you all so much for your help and ideas. After experimenting with glass now for over 18 months by myself, I have come to realise that spending time with someone who coldworks glass in their workshop could really help.

If anybody in the Newcastle or even Sydney area would be willing to have me visit and observe how they work glass I would greatly appreciate it!!!! I'm trying to keep motivated in my project despite many technical setbacks, so asking questions from someone with glass experience would be fantastic.

And yes, once this comes together, I will post photos!

Thank you 

[Nomadnic]

Also..

I have bought a 7' portable tile saw, and while in the hardware shop also bought a diamond blade - DTA wet continuous. I tried cutting some bottles today experimenting with different speeds. The problem was, the glass chipped, sometimes very badly and due to the small blade size I had to either rotate the bottle or push through twice - both causing slight jolting.. It just seemed awkward. I'm wondering if a higher quality and possible larger blade (therefore larger saw) would eliminate theses problems? Are blade saws the way to go? Or band saws, etc...?

I am hoping to do this on a small budget. However as I mentioned in the post above, I would like to visit someone who may have a suitable saw that I could check out and determine if a big investment is the way to go to quickly achieve a clean cut.

Thank you again for any feedback on this non lapidary subject!!

[mehoose]

You don't have to respond, just wondering if you noticed your message. Hope it's of some help.

[Andrew]

Hi Nomadnic
 The most likely cause of the chipping and bad cut from the Tile saw is the Blade. These saws are supplied usually with a very thick Blade (often of not great quality) designed to rough cut Tiles not Glass or Rocks.Most of these small tile saws are 7" with a 25 or 22mm bore,the bore size means most available Lapidary or Glass Diamond blades wont fit!
 We have specially Made a Lapidary 303 Continuous Rim blade to fit these machines to overcome this issue.
 For an affordable option I think you are on the right track,bandsaws and Blade Saws big enough to cut through in one go are a bigger investment then simply a more suitable blade.

Cheers Andrew
 

[Gearloose]

Back in the dark ages when K-Tel used to advertise stuff on the TV, I vaguely remember them flogging a glass bottle cutting kit - (to make glasses out of old beer bottles ) dont know if it worked at all but I do remember seeing the ads on the telly

You can do that but they usually need an anneal afterward. It wanted to be a bottle, and the bottle was properly heat treated for use.  Once sawn, it's a different shape, and now strained.

In the optics industrry, we used only continuous rim sintered bronze blades for glass.  You CAN use the cheap notch-charged copper ones if you go very slow, with a water flood.

Forget the steel ones and especially the segmented rim rock slabbing blades-You may as well use a hammer and chisle..

The tile saw blades are not suitable at all for unsupported glass- Or much else but tile. As diamond saw blades go, they are the lowest form of life, like an amoeba.  When tiling, the half-tiles are generally used at the edges and will be under trim or grout, so the edge does not have to be pretty.

[RosarioChrzanowski]

Hello all, I know this post is not related to lapidary but I was hoping someone could help.
I am trying to find a saw and diamond blade suitable for cutting solar panel. There are so many out there and as I don't know the first thing about them I need help.

Thank you for any ideas

Hello friend were you able to cut down the glass bottles with your method? Can you share some more information.

[nickykim]

Hi, I work with fused glass and have made drop cups which require the rim to be cut off the top of the cup.  When you rotate the bottle onto the tile saw blade, if you only push the bottle's cut edge as far onto the blade as where the diamonds are embedded the edge is less likely to chip.

[mangomick]

The old K tel type was basically just make a scratch line around the bottle with a diamond tipped cutting blade ,heat with a candle along the scratch line while rotating the bottle and then stick it in cold water. Job done. Only thing then was to smooth off the cut with a bit of wet and dry emery. Worked a treat. The main problem was ....What the hell do you do with an empty half beer bottle. Think it was a plan made up by the Men so they would always have to empty plenty of full beer bottles for whoever they bought the machine for.

[Aussie Sapphire]

The old K tel type was basically just make a scratch line around the bottle with a diamond tipped cutting blade ,heat with a candle along the scratch line while rotating the bottle and then stick it in cold water. Job done. Only thing then was to smooth off the cut with a bit of wet and dry emery. Worked a treat. The main problem was ....What the hell do you do with an empty half beer bottle. Think it was a plan made up by the Men so they would always have to empty plenty of full beer bottles for whoever they bought the machine for.

Here is the actual ad for that product - I remember seeing it on the TV as a kid but when I just looked at it again, it struck me how LONG the ad was.  Pretty funny.

http://youtu.be/UaGxNaaaQtQ

cheers
Leah

[mangomick]

Yea..............The good old days of......... holden monaros ,bell bottom pants and bottle cutters.