Plastic bottles accumulate in every family. Most often, their further use is to be thrown into a landfill. Not everyone understands that a plastic bottle can be a good raw material for making useful and necessary things in the household. It is enough to carefully cut it, and you get a reliable heat shrink tape. When heated, it melts and becomes very strong. Therefore, it is easy for her to find application in the country.
It is impossible to cut plastic accurately and quickly only with a knife or scissors. To solve this problem, you can create a special device that is easy to manufacture and operate. How to make a bottle cutter with your own hands, and will be discussed in the article.
Production Features
There are several options for making a bottle cutter with your own hands. Their photos show that most of them are almost the same. But there are also some fundamental differences. Some options have additional improvements.
The blade of a clerical knife is most often used as a cutting element. Tothe tape was flat, it should be sharp. The blade is attached to wooden or metal blanks. Some options provide for fastening to the base (for example, to the table). Others need to be held in hand while working.
The easiest way
To make the simplest DIY bottle cutter, you will need very few materials:
- base;
- blade (for example, from a clerical knife);
- a few screws;
- a few washers (or nuts).
It only takes a few minutes to make. A small piece of board can be used as a base. In any of its places (but not on the very edge), a self-tapping screw is screwed. It should have a nut with several washers on it. Next to it, another self-tapping screw with several washers (nut) is screwed in the same way. In this case, the washers (or at least the top one) should be of a larger diameter. This is due to the fact that it will serve as a guide. Nuts are not required. You can just take a few pucks to make a small pile. There should be a distance between the stacks of washers approximately equal to the thickness of the bottle wall.
A knife is placed between the washers located on different self-tapping screws. Moreover, the sharp side should be directed to the screws. It is clamped between the washers. Depending on their number under the knife, the thickness of the cut tape will also be adjusted.
The bottom of the bottle is cut off. The initial incision of the tape is made. Cropped part of a bottleis installed on the knife so that one of its walls is between the stacks of washers. With one hand, the bottle is pressed down, and the tape is pulled out with the other.
Wooden Device
You can make a bottle cutter with your own hands using a small wooden block as a basis. You will also need a clerical knife (its blade), metal tape and several screws 15 mm long.
The bar should fit in your hand (approximately 4.5 x 4.5 x 17 cm). From the top in the center, the bar is cut down a few centimeters. On the front side, an incision is made approximately to the middle of the thickness of the bar. Both notches must intersect. A knife is inserted into the horizontal one with the tip to the unfinished sidewall. It is fixed there with pieces of metal tape screwed with screws.
The bottom of the bottle is cut off. An incision is made to form the beginning of the tape. Next, the bottle is put on the workpiece. The principle of operation and the device are visible in the photo above.
Materials for metal bottle cutter
The following DIY bottle cutter uses the following materials:
- aluminum corner;
- stationery blade;
- several nuts (washers);
- one nail (200mm).
In addition to materials, you will need tools: a drill with drills (with diameters of 3 and 6 mm), a grinder, a file. Sandpaper is also useful to remove burrs. It is convenient to remove the formed metal shavings with a brush withmetal bristles.
Assembling the structure
Schematic diagram of this device is visible in the drawing. Do-it-yourself bottle cutters begin to be made by attaching a knife to a corner. To do this, the blade is applied to the corner from the inside. A place is marked for the hole through which the fastening will be carried out, and the length of the knife (to remove the excess part of the corner). In the marked place, a hole is drilled in the workpiece (diameter 6 mm). The excess part of the corner is cut off.
Next to the hole (departing from it 5 mm), cuts are made at the corner with an interval of 5 mm. Their length should correspond to the desired thickness of the tape. Slots are thoroughly cleaned of burrs and chips.
A nail is used as an axis. A thread is made on it about 15-20 mm long. The edge of the thread is slightly bent so that the axis sets the angle for cutting the tape and feeds the bottle. A threaded nail is inserted into the hole prepared at the beginning. The DIY bottle cutter is ready and ready to use.
