Bottlecrafters Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Hi,I cut some wine bottles and would like to experiment making candles in them. The wine bottles have a "punt" in the bottom, which is a very large dimple/cone that is pointed upward into the bottle. The punt is rounded at the top, so my question is can I affix the tabbed wick onto the rounded top with a glue dot or some such? Does anyone see any issues with this?All my supplies should arrive tomorrow, so I can begin experimenting, but just wanted to see if anyone had any input on this before I begin.Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlc Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 The punt is rounded at the top, so my question is can I affix the tabbed wick onto the rounded top with a glue dot or some such?I've never wicked a wine bottle. I have wicked some convex containers and I would not use glue dots or wick tabs and especially so on that much of a convex angle/point. Silicone is what I would use if I were you. You will also have quite a bit of wax left past the wick tab but you probably have already figured that one out. Are your wine bottle(s) fairly thick glass wise? If the glass was thick enough for a container candle then I bet they would look pretty cool.Welcome to the forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 I cut some wine bottles and would like to experiment making candles in them. PLEASE do not use wine bottle for candle containers. The glass is NOT made nor formulated to be heated nor to withstand the thermals stress of a container candle.These make lovely shelters for votive candles but are not a good idea for pouring container candles directly into them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthfriendly Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Wow Stella, I was thinking the same thing when I found these candles at a boutique. They smelled wonderful, this is their web-site. rewinedcandles.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernadette Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Wow Stella, I was thinking the same thing when I found these candles at a boutique. They smelled wonderful, this is their web-site. rewinedcandles.comWow....this company sure has them in alot of retail locations...at $27.00 a pop. Hope they have some hefty insurance.:tiptoe: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksranch Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Wow - no kidding! yikes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barncat Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 I seen rewined candles display in atlanta. Was really neat line of candles. Everything was wine scented. Reusing wine bottles has been a big trend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
001 Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 (edited) Wine bottles are very very tough. They usually have thick glass and are good with thermal shock (they are routinely jammed into ice) and as far as them not being able to handle heat... all glass is made at temperatures in excess of 900, and as long as they are properly annealed (which is required for food products) they should be fine. I personally wouldn't see them as unsafe as is BUT... if they are simply cutting the tops off and pouring them it could create a microcrack that could burst through warm ups and cool downs.If, however they are cutting the tops off and then putting them through an annealing oven they should be fine. This would fuse these cracks and stabilize the glass.The biggest problem I have with wine bottles is most of them are concave on the bottom which makes wicking them very very hard. Edited January 24, 2012 by 001 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 (edited) They usually have thick glass and are good with thermal shock (they are routinely jammed into ice) and as far as them not being able to handle heat... all glass is made at temperatures in excess of 900, and as long as they are properly annealed (which is required for food products) they should be fine.Wine bottles are not designed to take heat. In fact, the way many people "cut" wine bottles is to wrap a cotton cord around them, light on fire, then immerse into cold water. The thickness of the glass has little relation to its ability to handle thermal stress, as evidenced by the ease with which it is *cut* using thermal shock to fracture the glass along a line of stress caused by the heat of the burning cord. Simply because glass is molten at temps of 1100°F + means little to the ability to handle thermal stress. How sensitive the glass is to thermal stress is dependent on the particular formula of the glass, how it is manufactured and annealed (necessary for all glass to relieve internal stress built up within the molecular structure from heating and cooling) and how it is handled. If, however they are cutting the tops off and then putting them through an annealing oven they should be fine. This would fuse these cracks and stabilize the glass.I have worked with glass for many years - both cold and warm glass (kiln work) so I have an understanding of its properties. You cannot simply put a cracked piece of glass back in the kiln and expect the fracture to fuse or "heal" - it doesn't work that way. The glass would have to be completely melted and recast. Annealing takes place at a lower temperature than slumping, fusing or casting. When two pieces of glass are fused in a kiln, they are cooled, then annealed.Thicker glass frequently will crack and shatter from thermal stress before thinner glass will, depending on the formula and manufacturing. It's all in what it is designed for and NO wine bottles are designed to be heated nor to be subjected to temperatures of 300°F or more, common inside container candles! Glass wine bottles sometimes have a rough life. They are designed to be hard workers and take a lot of bumps without chipping or cracking easily. This is a very different kind of strength than glass manufactured to be heated and reheated.Repurposing wine bottles for drinking glasses, vases, bottle walls, candle shelters or other similar projects is perfectly reasonable, but pouring a candle to be burned directly in them is not a wise choice, especially for a product to be sold to the general public. The safest bet is to place a glass votive inside rather than pouring candles directly into wine bottles. Edited January 24, 2012 by Stella1952 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
001 Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I cut candle containers in the same way, and you have to soak the cord in something first (I use vodka, its cheap and readily available... in my house anyway) When I get yankee trade ins to pull the wax out I crop the top and heat gun the bottom, it usually pops out in one shot. I've done this with a few of mine as well (libbey containers) It is not exclusive to one kind of glass, any glass heated to 600 degrees and plunged into cold water will do this. Annealing properly will cure the micro fractures caused by the cutting of the glass, think about it, when the glass is taken from the rod it is broken off with thermal shock. This doesn't make them unsafe for heat.I also work in glass fairly often, though not as much as I would want.... studio time is very expensive. When I am in there I primarily up-cycle beer bottles into drinking glasses and one of the things I do is heal the fractures with the annealing process. Now... just sticking them into a hot box won't do it it needs to be raised and lowered in a controlled way for it to work but I am not going to get into that, there is no reason to here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debratant Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I have seen many many many candles in containers that I would not consider "candle glass". When you get right down to it...are mason jarsmeant for candles exclusively? Are Jelly Jars? Are Salsa Jars? No. To the original poster...if you do pour a candle in the wine bottle...please post a pic. Would love to see how it turns out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottlecrafters Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 I am doing some testing and research right now. I have a post here that shows a picture and video (further down), but not a great representation of what I ultimately want to do.http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?102760-My-First-Burn-Test&highlight=burn+test Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faerywren Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I have seen many many many candles in containers that I would not consider "candle glass". When you get right down to it...are mason jarsmeant for candles exclusively? Are Jelly Jars? Are Salsa Jars? No. To the original poster...if you do pour a candle in the wine bottle...please post a pic. Would love to see how it turns out. Ditto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixisprkl Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I have seen the cut wine bottles and also liquor bottles. I would be nervous about using them, but would use them personally if I could keep a constant eye on them. For looks, they would be awesome to have around the house... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck_35550 Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 The real question here is what quality of glass are you likely to get? Unfortunately, most of the glass production is from China and as you might expect, they have lower quality control than in the States. Thickness means nothing when overheating occurs. Jelly jars are designed for higher temperatures when used for canning in a hot water bath and should be able to withstand regular temps of a burning candle; unless it is overwicked KWIM? But what if the jars you bought are seconds with flaws? Have you tested the wine bottles yet? How expensive are they to obtain? Wicking? Ugh, I would hate to know I had to figure that one out. You could attatch the wick base on with gasket sealer (Stella?) but I don't know what you would do if it required multiple wicks. Good luck. HTHSteve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottlecrafters Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 I am currently testing a bunch of wine bottles, trying to get the wicking down. I cold work glass bottles and make them into glassware,(if you google my user name, you can see what I create), so the bottles are free. Wicking the various sizes is the challenge right now, many of the bottles have a 1/4"-1/2" variance in diameter, so I am burn testing to see how the various wicks perform. I also have a steady flow of the same brands, so I can standardize that somewhat... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WickedWineCandles Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 We make candles from recycled bottles. And yes, I agree, there are many different glass bottle variations, some thick, some thin. Some work well for candles, many do not.We like to use large wine bottles and champagne bottles as they have glass thickness of at least 3/16". Additionally, we only bottles with minimum 3 1/8" diameter, and 11 5/8" circumference. To cut our bottles, we have tried many different methods, but have found that scoring the bottle first, then heating with a torch, then cooling with water causes the bottle to separate very easily. We then finish the process by smoothing all the edges of each bottle.I have attached a picture for your reference. I am very interested in learning if others have better methods or tips for improving my process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WickedWineCandles Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Excellent. May I ask how you went about securing the same brands? We collect recycled wine bottles from our local area and I would love to work with a restaurant or local wine store. I am not sure how to approach the topic and discussion though.I would greatly appreciate any info you can share with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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