Product Review - G2 Bottle Cutter

I love upcycling and using old items to make new things. Newspaper, magazines, plastic bags, clothing. You name it. It's like making something from nothing. One of my favorite materials is glass, especially old wine bottles. The array of shapes and colors amazes me. A few years ago I used over a hundred bottles to make my wine bottle garden. I still think it's one of the prettiest features in our yard.

Up until now, my wine bottle projects have always incorporated whole bottles. Recently, however, I ran across the Generation Green (g2) Bottle Cutter at a local craft and hobby store. I'll admit, it was an impulse buy. I've always wanted to cut bottles, but never knew how. This seemed like an easy inexpensive solution. I decided to give it a try.


Here's the general idea of how it works. Start with a clean glass bottle.

Also, be safe. Glass is a funny thing. Sometimes it breaks in unexpected ways. Wear eye protection. 









Position the G2 on the bottle. This may be the trickiest part of the whole procedure. It's worth taking a couple minutes to really figure out where you want to cut.

Measure twice. Cut once.

Now you turn the bottle as you press the glass scoring device into the glass.







The result, a thin line encompassing the bottle.












Next, you need two water baths. One should be filled with boiling hot water, the other ice cold. I put the water into two tall plastic containers in my sink. That way they are close to each other and don't require much water to fill them.

You just dip the bottle in the water to the score line, first in the hot water, then in the cold.




Repeat this process a few times and the bottle should just break apart.

The kit also includes emery paper so you can file the edges of the cut, if necessary.










Pros

• It's easier to cut a bottle with the G2 than using the old string method you can read about online.
• You can cut many different types of bottles.
• It doesn't take any special skill to use the G2, just a little practice.
• The G2 is inexpensive. I bought mine for less than $20.
• The instructions that come with the G2 are easy to understand and follow.
• The scoring tool has six blades. (You only use one at a time.) If you keep them lubricated, I would imagine you can use the G2 to score hundreds of bottles before it wears out.

Cons

• There are three ways to adjust the G2 depending on the size and shape of the bottle you are cutting. It takes a little patience to position perfectly.
• Although there are measurement marks on the G2, they are not particularly useful since the tool sets into each bottle differently depending on the width of the bottle opening.
• It takes a little practice to press the scoring tool into the glass with your right hand and turn the bottle you are cutting with your left.
• The G2 can't be used on square bottles.
• Some larger wine bottles are made from thicker glass that make it difficult to get a clean separation. Although I was able to easily use the G2 to score the bottles, they broke in odd ways when I put them into the water baths.

Tips

• The scoring tool should be at a 90 degree angle to the glass for the best score.
• Although it does not say to do this in the directions, I found that colored glass bottles separate better if you score around them twice instead of once.
• Don't start your score at the seam of the bottle.
• The temperature of your water baths is incredibly important. Unless they are near boiling and freezing temperatures, the glass will not separate easily.
• When you place the bottle into the water baths, make sure the water level is barely above the score line.
• Be aware that your bottle will most likely separate as you are lifting it out of the water bath.
• If you will be cutting the same kind of bottles in the same location, use a permanent marker on your G2 to mark how it is adjusted.
• Never underestimate the importance of safety glasses. 
• Sometimes glass behaves unexpectedly. Even if you follow the instructions exactly, occasionally a bottle will break in a surprising way. I used the same process to break this bottle as the one shown above. Somehow the glass cracked down the middle section of the bottle and the bottom fell out even though my score line was closer to the top of the bottle.