3D Printed Drill Tool for Glass Bottles

This instructable covers drilling holes in glass bottles and then using the bottles for decorative purposes.

Diamond drills are used to drill several holes in glass bottles. The difficulty lies in positioning the drill on the round glass bottle without it slipping. To do this, a tool was designed in Fusion360 and printed on a 3D printer. This tool allows you to position the drill and drill exactly where you want. To avoid glass dust and heat during drilling, the bottle can be placed in a bucket with the tool so that the process can be carried out underwater. The tool was dimensioned for 0.5-liter and 0.75-liter bottles. The holes in the bottles are then fitted with 3D-printed inserts to accommodate flower pots or pens. All drawings for the 3D printer are attached.

Materials you will need:

1. Glass bottle (with a diameter of either 65.5 mm or 75 mm)
2. 3D printed drill tool (drawings for 3D printing are attached below)
3. 3D printed inserts and supports (drawing attached in chapter 4)
4. Electric Drill
5. Drill bit for glass Kit 8-50mm: Link
6. Water bucket
7. Adhesive tape
8. 3D printer
9. Hot glue
10. Felt-tip pen and ruler
11. Plants / Cacti for decoration
12. Fusion360 / Prusa slicer

The tool was designed in Fusion360. It consists of two parts that can be placed around the bottle. The parts can be inserted into each other. One hole corresponds to the respective bottle diameter (0.75-liter bottle has a 75 mm diameter and the half-liter bottle has a diameter of 65.5 mm).

The second hole, which is used to guide the drill, has a diameter of 50 mm. This diameter is simply based on the drill bit I was able to buy.

Then teeth are inserted on one side of the contact surfaces of the two parts and recesses on the other side. The slip between the objects was set at 0.2 mm.

If you cannot use the tool due to different bottle sizes, an explanation how to draw the tool in Fusion360 is given in the video (Link) .

To ensure that all the holes on the bottle are neatly lined up next to each other, first draw a straight line on the bottle (see picture).Then take one half of the tool and place the circle for the diamond drill bit in the middle of the line. Use a felt-tip pen to draw the outline of the drill hole on the bottle. Repeat this for the number of holes you want to drill.

Place the tool over one of the circles marked on the bottle. Secure the tool to the bottle with plenty of tape so that it cannot move. Fill a bucket full of water and submerge the bottle with the taped-on tool. Fill water so that only the bottle with the tool attached to it is submerged. Please remember that only the drill bit should come into contact with the water, not the drill itself (electricity)!

Insert the glass drill bit into your drill. Start with a low speed on the drill frist. Apply light pressure and let the drill do the work. Too much pressure can damage the glass. Once the hole is drilled, carefully remove the drill bit and the tape. Then repeat this step for all other holes.You will see that the PLA of the 3D printed tool is not damaged due to the water cooling. The tool therefore can be used again and again.

To ensure that the bottles stand securely on a surface and do not roll away, we need two more supports that can be attached to the bottle. To avoid having to sand the edges around the drilled holes, inserts were also designed. The inserts are either for holding pots with plants or office supplies such as pens and so on.

The supports and inserts were first designed in Fusion 360, then sliced in PrusaSlicer and printed on a Prusa mini. The support and inserts then were fixed on the bottle with hot glue.

Since I place these bottles on the windowsill where plants get a lot of sunshine, there is also a high risk of the plants drying out. That's why I decided to go for cacti, which are available in various types and inexpensive to buy in small pots.

When it comes to watering I just remove the plants and place them in a bucket filled with water. Once the soil in the pots has absorbed enough water, I put the pots back in the bottle.