Beer Bottle Light

In this Instructable I will show you how I made lights from some empty beer bottles. I made these lamps to get just a little bit more light on the table for playing games.

Materials:

• glass bottles (beer, wine, liqueur or what ever bottle you think will look good)
• this instructable is specific to round bottles.
• in my experience thicker walled bottles preform better then thin walled bottles.
• hot and cold water
• electrical wire
• plug
• lamp socket (i used E14 with bigger bottles E27 might also work)
• lights (I used 3x 1Watt LED bulbs)
• wood (for the casing)
• other bits and bobs depending on your construction: zip ties, screws, wood glue, nails, paint

Tools:

• glass cutter
• wire cutters
• wire strippers
• wood saw
• screwdrivers
• drill
• protective glasses

There are a few different ways to cut a bottle. The ones i have experience with are a diamond blade cut on a rotary tool and the way i will explain here. This way takes some time but is easier and you don't have to deal with glass dust which is very nasty. The rotary tool option is best suitable for a square bottle because it's impossible to get an accurate cut all the way around.

The glass cutter method:

The first step is the most crucial. You need to get a clean line on the bottle all the way around. To make this easier I made a small jig that consists of 4 wheels, a fence and an attachment for the cutter. If you search for glass bottle cutter you will find some great examples on Instructables. This makes it possible to score the bottle all the way around by simply turning the bottle. If you turn the bottle you also press it into the fence. This way you ensure the cut will be made at the same distance from the bottom all around the bottle. If the scoring isn't straight your fracture and the final cut are likely to fail but i would still give it a try. I still had success with some lines that did not meet perfectly. I would say it should be within 1 or 2 millimetre all the way around. The closer it is the better the final result.

After scoring a line on the bottle its time to stress the glass. you can do this by heating the bottles in a pan with water that is close to boiling point. In another pan you put water that is cold with floating ice in it. Then you dip the bottle alternately in the hot and cold water and let the bottle get the approximate temperature of the pan before returning it to the other pan. This will take around 20 / 30 seconds per pan. It might take a while but if everything goes well you will see the scratch turn into a fracture deeper and deeper into the bottle until it snaps off.

IMPORTANT: make sure the bottle is open at the end. This will prevent the build-up off pressure inside the bottle. If the bottle heats up there is a risk if the pressure building up. This might lead to an aggressive and less accurate cut but might also send glass flying.. wear your safety glasses ;)

I was lucky and 4 out of 6 came out great. 2 bottles had little defects because the crack formed at a different place then intended. So make sure you have more then you will need. If you end up with more you can always find another project for it!

The glass bottles are now cut, but keep in mind that they are extremely sharp at this stage. To safely remove the sharp edge you can wet sand the bottles. By wet sanding you eliminate the glass dust and it will make the sandpaper last a lot longer. Just be sure the sandpaper is suitable for wet sanding.

Use a circular motion when sending the edges and pay special attention with a smaller piece of sandpaper for the hard to reach areas.

Somehow I lost some pictures of creating the box that will be attached to the ceiling but in short: I made a wooden box and recreated some steps in SketchUp. You will likely have a level ceiling instead of a 45 degree one like mine. But if you are here on Instructables you probably know how to make your own box anyway. ;)

• Make a box consisting of 2 squares and 2 triangles or a regular one with 5 sides in your own preferred dimensions. Just make sore you have enough space to fit the electrical wiring.
• Cut the holes for the power cord and screws.
• Then i made a H frame. It can be any shape but these where the scraps a had laying around. This made it possible to fine tune the distances between the two triangle sides and screw it the ceiling. After securing the H-frame to the ceiling you can attach the box to it to complete the install.

The box houses all the electrics and is screwed to the H-baseplate that was previously secured to the ceiling.

I am not an electrician so i won't go into a lot of detail. Do your own research or ask someone who knows (!)

If you use a single light you may not need this step. With multiple lights you need to wire them in parallel.

Followed the instructions for fitting the E14 socket and attaching it to the wire.

After attaching the plug to the other end you can test test the lights. Luckily I had no sparks or flipped breakers ;)

The box is painted similar to the wooden beams in the room so it blends in nicely.

After completing I preferred the cords hanging parallel to each other instead of coming from a single point and make a triangular shape. With the knowledge I have now I would drill three separate holes into the box and hang the lights in that way. But I did not want to take it all apart again so I came up with a spacer that would space the wires out and hang the bottles parallel to each other and add some spacing between them.

The spacer was cut with a jigsaw and a drill out off a thin piece of plywood.

Putting in a (smart) switch:

To turn the lights on and off you could wire a regular switch in the main power cord. I plugged it in in a smart outlet that can be controlled with smart-home applications.

make a cup of tea, grab a beer and admire your creation :)