How to Make Melted Wine Bottles
The art of melting wine bottles is called slumping. According to Connie Brown of glass-fusing-made-easy.com, you should do a little research to understand annealing, devitrification (in which a whitish crust appears on the glass when it is kept too long at high temperatures), and how to prevent thermal shock to the glass in your kiln. Once you have a basic understanding of the equipment and principles involved, it is relatively easy to make your own melted wine bottles.
Things You'll Need
- Wine bottle
- Soap and water
- Kiln wash or kiln paper
- Kiln
- High-temperature gloves
- Optional: slumping mold
- Optional: 20 gauge copper wire
Instructions
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Preparation
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1
Wash your wine bottle thoroughly with hot, soapy water. Remove the labels and any trace of adhesive. Allow the bottle to dry completely.
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2
Clean the kiln shelf and line it with kiln paper or spray it with kiln wash to keep the glass from sticking to the shelf. If you are using a mold, spray it with kiln wash as well.
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3
Place the bottle on the kiln shelf, or on the mold if you are using one, and close the kiln.
Firing
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4
Turn on the kiln and slowly warm it up. Increase the temperature about 500 degrees F for each hour until it reaches 1,100 degrees.
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5
Soak the bottle for about 10 minutes at this temperature. Soaking means keeping the temperature constant in the kiln for a prescribed length of time. Soaking the bottle allows it to reach a consistent temperature throughout.
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6
Increase the kiln temperature around 250 degrees F per hour until it reaches 1,300 degrees. At this temperature, increase the heat as fast as the kiln is capable until it reaches 1,425 degrees, or until the bottle has melted to the shape you desire.
Cooling
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7
Turn off the kiln and cool it as quickly as possible to 1,100 degrees F. Open the lid slightly to prevent devitrification.
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8
Anneal the melted bottle, which means cool it at a rate that removes the stress from the glass, around 150 degrees F per hour. Letting the kiln cool on its own is usually the best way to do this.
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9
Remove the bottle from the kiln, and, if you like, paint it or otherwise decorate it.
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1
Tips & Warnings
You can spray the bottle with "devit spray" before firing to avoid devitrification. Use devit spray especially on colored bottles. An alternative to kiln paper is kiln wash, also referred to as separator or shelf primer. Buy this in powder form and mix it with water then spray the shelf and any molds you will be using. To make the melted bottle a wall hanging, put a loop of 20-gauge copper wiring inside the neck of the bottle before firing. The bottle will melt around the wire and hold it in place when cool. Test these steps for your kiln and adapt them accordingly. Each kiln is different and will require some modifications to this process. Keep notes. Try other bottle types like beer bottles and perfume bottles. There should be enough room around the bottle when you place it in the kiln for good air circulation.
Kilns reach extremely high temperatures. Always wear heat-resistant gloves and other safety gear when operating a kiln. If any water remains on the wine bottle before it goes into the kiln, it could cause the glass to explode during firing. Do not melt colored glass inside clear glass bottles. Different glass expands and contracts at different rates. The rate at which a particular glass expands is called its coefficient of expansion (COE). The COE of each glass melting together must match or the item will crack. If the kiln heats up faster than 500 degrees F per hour, it can cause the bottle to break. As explained by Brad Walker of Warm Glass Studio in Clemmons, North Carolina, up to about 1,000 degrees, glass is expanding but is still solid and brittle. If the temperature increases too quickly and causes the glass to fracture, the crack is called thermal shock.
