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Someone I know mentioned these being around in the 80s...here's one on ebay that includes a candle as well:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Bottle-Craft-Cutting-Craft-Kit_W0QQitemZ290287880699QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0

Maybe the candle is used to rub wax on the cut edges so they're smoother.

Gosh, this is so '70s -- I think Ronco marketed bottle cutters then.

candle could be for melting down the rough edges of the glass?

Oh Boy - More overpriced imported crapola from UO!

Ronco has been selling something similar for years:
http://www.sks-bottle.com/340c/fin175b.html

I had a bottle cutter as a child, never worked.

love the idea, but it seems pricey. a standard glass cutter at a stained glass store usually goes for under $10. mark your path with some painters tape and get a friend to hold it and there you go. or perhaps there's another (less trendy) source for a kit that would be cheaper?

Take a look at the last photo on UO. The candle is for heating up the etch line. Then you cool it down. Separate and polish. (Never tried it, just reading the illustration.)

Fifty-four American dollars? For real?

you don't need a kit at all - you need twine, cold water, rubbing alcohol and a match
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMiej4630B4&feature=related

You can either buy glass polishing paper at a glass shop or But I never have bothered, I use sandpaper and it's fine.

excellent link, laila! i now have a new project...

They used to sell them on late night TV, right up there with Ginsu knives, Buttoneers, and Chia Pets............LOL

Urban Outfitters is asking a bunch of money for something that has been around for-ever and can easily be found elsewhere, or done with materials you already have at home. Unheard of!

I got one from Michael's and it was much cheaper (can't remember the exact price). But it's a pain in the butt. I've used it for one project and got frustrated, and haven't used it sense.

if those are their photos for it the top picture looks like it was cut like crap. Looks like a quick way to slice your lip open...

There was a diy book (don't remember each one) and it had how to make a light fixture from Voss waterbottles. Looked good and they had ther how to. Probably didn't cost 54 for the cutter "kit" either...

Ok - this is the third post today about UO crap. San Fran, Boston and now LA - really? Is someone being paid to promote their stuff?

I've seen bottle cutters sold for years and didn't even know if they were even still being made but $54, um, no. I don't usually buy from UO, but I can buy their album frames for $20 for 2 as I have a project that needs to be finished.

Occasionally they have something that intrigues me but generally, it's not my thing and there are two stores in Seattle that I know of. One is downtown, the other up on Capitol Hill that I walk by often since it's next to the grocery store that I shop at.

I learned how to cut bottles from Popular Science Magazine when I was a kid. That's a long time ago. Tie a piece of kerosene soaked string around the bottle. Light the string. As it burns it heats the glass. Quickly immerse the bottle in cold water. It snaps apart at the string line. Hey, this is a test of my long term memory...no warranties expressed or implied...you're on your own.

Urban Outfitters sure knows how to market themselves as the only place to get stuff that might be cool.

Cutting the bottle seems fairley straightforward, but what's the best way to sand the edges?

to smooth the edges of cut glass, use wet or dry sandpaper (use it wet), and gently and carefully sand and smooth the edge. use gradually smaller grit, I'd start with around 200.

As far as Urban Outfitters goes...I made the mistake of ordering from them once...I wanted to get the cute house shaped mail holder. Ever since then they have sent me many catalogs, even though I requested "please do not" when I ordered, and have called them twice (in the last four months) to request please take me off the mailing list. And they sold my name to other companies, my mailbox is now full of junkmail... I will never buy anything from them again, no mater how cute or useful it is.

I bought this a while ago, not from UO (Where you can buy $30 thrift store shirts), and it works fine. You etch the line, then heat it with a candle, then quickly get ice on it, and then repeat. Then sand it with finer and finer sand paper. It works perfectly well and isn't that much of a pain. I used Sol bottles, too, to make nice little glasses (since the label is in the glass, not glued on), and I have made tumblers of narrow bottles with wider bottels to fit over the top as a cap and a glass to drink from.

I've heard (never tried) that if you fill the bottle with oil, then put a hot steel rod in the bottle, it will shear off at the level of the oil. Essortment has info on this and other ways to cut bottle glass:
http://www.essortment.com/hobbies/cutoffthreaded_sjou.htm

that is highway robbery :-D

http://www.instructables.com/id/Drinking-Glasses-from-Wine-Bottles/

tells you how to do everything!

imagine having chapped lips and drinking a margarita w/salt from the glass in the first photo.

It hasn't been polished yet.

Back in the 60's my Mom did some of these. They were heavy and clunky and graceless and ugly, and in the end got tossed. If you get some kind of whimsy from bottles with labels, maybe you will like them, but frankly, I don't think most people will be happy with the results.

i love that greenish-brown that a lot of wine bottles seem to be made of. they would make lovely simple vases using this technique. *or*...you could cut them at both ends and make a glass tube...for what i'm not sure...maybe stacking for small storage? insulation? standing a bunch together in a box for vertical storage? hmmmm.

To polish the edges, try a propane torch, like the ones you use of creme brulee. That's what we did in the lab back in my Chemist days.