Cutting Glass Martinelli Sparkling Cider Bottles!

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Cutting Glass Martinelli Sparkling Cider Bottles!
Let's chat.
Pinterest, I have a huge love/hate relationship with Pinterest.
Firstly, it makes it look like things are so easy...they get pinned millions of times and yet,
they are not always accurate or even possible the way they state.
So, don't believe Pinterest, cutting glass bottles, not a cinch.
We tried wrapping twine in lighter fluid and burning it, wetting it for the perfect brake.
No. It did not work.
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We tried another approach.
We started out with 17 Martinelli bottles. Only 9 turned out.
Expect a lot of trial and error. If you are a drinker or collect a bunch of bottles,
that way, you have room for error.
Don't try this unless you are ready to break glass.

I've heard these circular suction cutting devices may work, but I have not tried them.
If you do try them or have, leave me a comment on what you think!
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We have a wood lathe, so we built a rig to hold the bottle in place
while we cut a circular score line.

You'll need a glass cutter and a torch.
A bucket of water too.

We stuffed a wooden piece in the top of the bottle and a case for the base.

Then placed it in our lathe rig.

Just using a manual turn and a steady hand,
my 14 year old son held the glass cutter and turned the bottle until the score line connected.
A good score is light, but makes a mark.
It's a delicate art, don't press too hard or the glass will re-meld together.

See the score line?

Use the torch and heat up just the score line.

All around the bottle.

Then hold above the bucket of water and gently drip water with
your hand right down the score line.
If the bottle is immersed, it will shatter into pieces. Trust me.
just drip where you heated it up.

If you are lucky the glass will pop apart easily without fracturing the rest of the bottle.
Check carefully for fracture lines.
If there are any, throw it out.

Now, unfortunately, the rim is just broken glass.
It's likely to cut anything it touches.
So we used sand paper and smoothed it down.

You can see the sanded tops, but they are at least safe to touch!
We ended up with 9 cups that didn't fracture!
They are fun to fill with sand and a candle for a fun centerpiece!