1880s Retro Drinking Glass

This started when my daughter and I were metal detecting and found an old bottle in the creek. It was full of mud and had the top broken off, but it was a weird shape and obviously very old. So we brought it home. It looked kind of cool but what to do with a crusty old broken bottle? Turn it into a drinking glass or vase seem like a great idea, and it turned out pretty cool.

Before you go cutting into an old bottle it is worth your time just to check if you're making a huge mistake. Some of these old bottles are becoming very collectable and people are paying stupid money from them. I found a similar bottle in mint condition on eBay for $9500. Shut up and take my bottle! Sadly if they are scratched and broken they are worth not very much, and the bottle we found was very much a scratch and dent item.

Most of the bottles of this style were broken by kids who want to get the marble seal from inside the neck which is probably why my daughter bottle was broken on the top.

A quick internet search and I found the information below.

https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/4fc0e2f6...

Historical information

The Codd Bottle was first invented by English manufacturer, Hiram Codd at Barnsley in 1870. The groove inside the top of the bottle held a rubber ring. A small glass ball was held against this ring by the pressure of the 'pop' or 'fizzy' carbonated drink inside the bottle. This style of bottle was widely manufactured and used in the production of mineral waters and lemonade. The glass has a slight green tint, known as aqua glass, and is what the Victorian era produced as 'clear glass'

Significance

This glass Codd bottle with glass ball and partial rubber ring was probably imported from England by Bennetts Pty. Ltd of Richmond, Victoria for their Lemonade and sold as refreshment to early settlers of Moorabbin Shire c1880

Physical description

A slightly green-tinted, glass bottle with a groove inside the top which held a rubber ring, against which, the small glass ball inside the bottle was held by the pressure of the 'fizzy' drink inside.

I'm sure there is a better way to do this but I only used the tools and equipment I had on hand, Which was an angle grinder with a diamond wheel for cutting tiles, A squirt bottle full of water and a helper.

First I wrapped some tape around the bottle to mark out the cut line as this keeps the line easy to see and makes the cut square with the sides. I also choose to cut it on the grass, Idea is it would not roll off my workbench, I would not have to clean up a mess and the grass is nice and soft so holds the bottle without skating around

Now I know you can still get those bottle cutters from the 70s But they probably would not work on this old bottle, the glass is full of scratches and is not a uniform thickness due to the way it was manufactured back in the 1880s. I was surprised to see it was about 8mm thick on one side and only about 3mm on the other.

I use a diamond wheel and my helper squirted water on the cut line to keep everything cool. I just took my time and it cut very easily but did chip a little on the inside edge. Maybe filling the bottle with water before cutting, or a finer diamond wheel would help.

I used a Dremel to sand the sharp edges, with some small sanding discs and my helper squirting water on the edge to help with cooling and removing the glass dust. I went through the grits that I had on hand 60 120 and 240. I had some wet and dry but only some 600 and 2000, so the rest was hand-sanded but it seemed to work ok.

Using only what I had on hand Which was an automotive buff and some cutting compound also for repair automotive paint I gave the edge of the glass a final polish by putting the buff upsidedown and holding it down with my knee. Again it seem to work well and my daughter was very happy with her 140-year-old drinking glass. She then decided it was too nice to hide in the cupboard so she filled it with marbles and put some flowers, and has them in her room.