In Part 1 of my series on how I make Recycled Glass Wine Bottle Cheese Boards, we had just finished cleaning our wine bottles really, really, really well. What’s next? Well, first, as in any glass fusing project, you have to make sure your kiln shelf is primed. I use Hotline primer. I’ve tried both the Hot Fire and Primo variety. I haven’t made up my mind on which I like better. But I will say that the Primo primer is a lot easier to clean off the shelf. I usually get two bottle firings out of a primed shelf.
Before I put the bottles in the kiln, I put them on my work table and see if they want to roll. Unfortunately, glass wine bottles aren’t uniformly thick. I roll them to see where they stop rolling. Sometimes there are markings on the bottom of the bottle that helps me visually remember which side goes up. These can be a series of dots, or a quantity stamped into the glass. One more thing before I lay the bottle on the kiln shelf… You guessed it! I clean the bottle again. If the bottles have been sitting around, they collect dust. And having just rolled the bottle on my work table, I have to give it another quick clean. I use vinegar in a spray bottle with a lint-free dish towel. Then without getting any finger prints on the bottle I place it on my shelf. I also place a kiln post on the edge of the shelf as a precaution, just in case a bottle decides to roll.
And now for the firing schedule! You probably don’t want to hear this. I know I didn’t when I first started, but it is true. No one schedule works for every kiln, or even every bottle type. I read through all that I could find in books and on the internet about melting wine bottles. I tried all of the firing schedules I found. None of them worked well for me just as they were. I tweaked soak times, ramp rates, temperatures, and finally came up with my own schedule. Since it is nice to have a jumping off point though, here is the schedule I am currently using in my Paragon Pearl kiln.
| Segment |
Ramp |
Target |
Hold |
|
dph |
Temp |
Time |
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
300 |
750 |
20 mins |
| 2 |
300 |
1050 |
30 mins |
| 3 |
afap |
1465 |
18 mins |
| 4 |
afap |
1030 |
2 hrs |
| 5 |
100 |
700 |
1 hr |
The slow ramp up in segment 1 and 2 and the hold times are there to help minimize bubbles. Segments 4 and 5 assure me that the bottles are properly annealed.
In Part 3, I will summarize some of my other findings and lessons learned in making wine bottle cheese boards.
Since starting in glass fusing a little over a year ago, I have not had the opportunity to be around other glass fusers. Most of what I have learned is from books, and trial and error. Online bulletin boards like www.warmglass.com can be a good source of information. But sometimes, you really just need to talk to someone.
Recently I ordered a kiln shelf from D & L Stained Glass. It looked fine when I unpacked it. But when I applied shelf primer there was an obvious problem. On one section, the primer would not absorb into the shelf. It looked like something had splashed on the shelf and was keeping the primer from adhering. When I called D & L, they had little in the way of answers for me.
Fortunately, last weekend, we had a trip planned to the Dallas area. Just north of Dallas is Stained Glass of McKinney. I decided to visit with the shop owners about my kiln shelf. I am so glad I did. Jacqui and her husband were very helpful. They suggested I remove all primer from the shelf and then fire it in the kiln to 1200 degrees for 20 minutes and see if whatever it was would burn off. I am happy to report that it worked great! If you happen to be in that area, be sure to visit Stained Glass of McKinney. They have a full selection of supplies, and if you are lucky enough to live in that area, they have a great class schedule.
This morning I opened the kiln to find my champagne bottle and wine bottle had fused together. I am sure I didn’t place them too close together in the kiln. The only other possibility is that one bottle rolled into the other. When I place bottles on the shelf I always check to see if there is a tendency for it to roll. The bottles aren’t always the same thickness all the way around, so I roll them to find where gravity natural takes them. Not sure why it rolled. I will have to check if the shelf is level. I also always place a kiln post on the edge of my shelf to prevent the possibility of a bottle rolling off the shelf. That would be a real disaster and cause a major melt down – not just in the kiln, but in me as well.
You might be thinking that the fused together bottles could actually be quite useful. Cheese on one side and crackers on the other. This is true, and will probably be how I will personally use it. But don’t look for any of these in my online shops. It is not something I can sell. I have no way of knowing if the glass in the two different bottles are compatible. What that means is that if the glass is not compatible, combining the two could have caused some stress in the glass and it could break apart anytime. It could break today, tomorrow, or next year. There is no way of knowing. I think I read somewhere that if you put the glass in the freezer for a certain amount of time, and it doesn’t break that you are okay. I’ll have to look into that a bit more. In the meantime, I’m going to have to figure out how to appease the kiln gods!
The first thing needed to make a recycled wine bottle cheese board is, of course, an empty wine bottle. Collecting empty wine bottles can be, without a doubt, the most fun part of the project. This bottle is from a recent wine tasting hosted at a friend’s home. The wine was from Ravines Wine Cellars in Hammondsport, NY on Lake Keuka. This is in the Finger Lakes region of New York; a place that evokes fond childhood vacation memories.
Now to the not so fun part! The wine bottles that will be fired need to be absolutely clean. My process is to load up the sink, soaking the bottles in hot water with a little bit of detergent for 20 minutes. I find that if I get back to the bottles before the water cools off, the labels come off easier. I then take a plastic scraper to scrap the label off and put the bottle back into the sink. Next I take a sponge with a scrubby side on it and a little abrasive cleaner to remove any residual glue. The cleaner is whatever I have under the sink. Ajax, Comet, Bon Ami, Bar Keepers Friend should all work. After I get all the glue off the bottles they get a good rinse inside and out in clean water. The last step is a little Windex and a paper towel to clean and dry the outside of the bottle. This last step may be a tad overkill, but it avoids any water spots, and it often shows up where I might have missed some glue. Finally I turn the bottles upside down on a wire rack to dry.
Some other tips:
- Give wine bottles a quick rinse as soon as they are empty. Residual red wine left to dry in a bottle can be difficult to clean.
- Some labels peel off nicely with a heat gun or hair dryer. This may be worth experimenting with, especially if you use the same type of wine. I get bottles from everywhere, so usually it isn’t worth my time to try it.
- Don’t forget to dry the bottom of the bottle before you turn it upside down to dry.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to have the bottles clean. The pictures below show what happens when you don’t clean the bottles carefully. Next week I’ll write about the firing schedule.
I've been around glass my whole life. Both my father and grandfather were stained glass artisans. In 2002 I started working with stained glass, and in 2009 I started to explore fused glass. My blog is mostly about my journey in glass, what I've learned and what I am exploring. It's a wonderful adventure! Please visit my website. 
