Wine Glass Stem Ring Holder

I was working with wine glasses on another project.
I was cutting off the base and stem of the glasses.
I came up with an idea of saving the cut offs and using them as Ring Holders.
A little polishing to get rid of the sharp points and they will make great gifts.

Long stem wine or water glass - the ones I used were 9 inches tall overall - 3 1/4 inch diameter base - with approximately 3 1/4 inch stem.

Diamond saw – I am lucky to have access to one. Note: I did one wine glass with a stain glass cutter and got a good result.

Grinding wheels/sand paper – grits – 100, 220 400, 600, 1200– Again; I am lucky to have access to power wheel grinders/sanders. When I was younger I used by hand wet silicon carbide sanding paper to smooth and polish cut pop bottles.

Optional:
hand glass cutter
gloves
painters tape

I picked up some wine glasses from my local dollar store. I am sure you can find some glasses at a thrift store. Also, keep this project in mind when a glass breaks (save the stem and base).

Cutting the Stem:
I used a power diamond saw to cut off the base and some of the stem. There is no exact spot to cut the stem, but cut enough for rings to fit on. For this project - I cut the stems anywhere from 1 to 2 1/2 inches up from the base.

Please note; glass is very unpredictable especially when cutting and polishing. For Safety - Adding blue painters tape around the glass and/or wearing gloves is advisable. When I used the hand stain glasscutter, I put the entire glass under a heavy towel before striking it to break.

Clean with soap and water.
Note: This power diamond saw uses oil for lubricant and coolant.

Water and more water will be needed to take the sharp edges off and polish the cut glass.

I started with 100 grit to take off the sharp edges.

Then I use finer grit levels to polish - 220 400, 600, and 1200. I really just rounded off the top of the stem - to avoid cut fingers when using.

Clean with soap and water.

This is a great project.

What was once considered scrap from another project, turns out to be a great gift.

It makes me feel good not to throw things away.