Using glass from bottles?

[NKahler]

Is it possible to make beads from bottles like beer bottles? I've read things about people using it, how does it work?

And can I use glass from like snapple and sobe? If it works, im gonna start walking down to the bay and picking up beach glass :)
Thanks -Nathan

[Karen Hardy]

Yes. Piece of cake. Just don't mix the bottles, since you don't know the
COE of the glass. I use a standard moretti annealing schedule.

Here's a bracelet with beads made from a skyy vodka bottle.

51649

[Henrywashere]

Nathan, I recycle alot of glass bottles and all. What I do I break them with a hammer (wrap them in a teatowell first) aiming at getting pieces under about an inch. Then I hold onto my piece with forceps and waft about in the back flame. Then I bring just a little corner into full flame and when its glowing orange hot heat up a stainless steel chopstick to glowing orange and push it into the glass for a punty. Then take the whole lot back out to the back flame and waft about again. When it starts to get hot bring it in closer and closer into the flame when its soupy I use my mashers to mash it into the approx shape of a rod and then use like normal. I anneal at 510 (c) and have have no problem. You can use frit on it sparingly but normally just 1 bottle at a time as you have no idea what the coe is. Bottle glass is in a range from 85 to 87 but can be as low as 83 or high as 90. Green glass looks great made into leaves. Hollows are also good you can also add some raised stringer work or bumbs so you just dont have a 1 colour plain bead.