Bottle Planter

by YaronShemesh

7.0K397

Intro: Bottle Planter

In this project, I decided to upcycle a wine bottle to a beautiful cactus planter.

The big challenge here was to cut the wine bottle on its side.

Hope you'll enjoy this instructable, as much as I enjoyed making it!!

Y.

STEP 1: Tools & Materials

Tools :

  1. Dremel rotter
  2. Diamond drill bit
  3. Saw
  4. Drill
  5. Drill Cup
  6. Plastic bottle
  7. Punch pin
  8. Bowl

Materials:

  1. Wine bottle
  2. 1m long of 2cmX10cm
  3. Few cactuses
  4. Gravel

STEP 2: Cutting Preparations

We'd start by peeling off the bottle labels, remove the sticker and scrape any glue remainings.

Next thing would be filling about 3/4 of the bottle with water, place the bottle on top of a levelled surface and mark the water level from the outside which will be the mark for the glass-cutting.

Now since we are about to cut through some sort of glass materials, we might create tiny fractions of glass during the cutting process. It will be a good idea to have some water current while cutting the glass.

Go ahead and fill a standard plastic bottle with tap water and punch it with the punching pin (~10cm/4in high), the water current will also cool down the diamond bit and prevent some glass fragments from spreading.

Don't forget to open the plastic bottle, in order to let the air suck in while the punched hole will let the water flow easily.

STEP 3: Bottle Cutting

SAFETY FIRST: Wear all protective gear before starting!!

Place the plastic bottle in a bowl, then place the glass bottle in the bowl vertically.

Best way to start the first hole is to create a wood template with the same diameter hole as the drill bit, then secure the template above the bottle and start the drilling while the water is running on the cutting area. Avoid putting excessive force on the drill, so that the glass bottle won't break while drilling its envelope.

TIP: Flowing water is crucial to cool down the glass and prevent it from cracking. That, and using gentle force in order to keep the contact temperature not too high.

Continue the drilling along the marked line, this is the longest part and the most delicate one. Complete the whole circle and be alert towards the last stages, the glass tends to crack and might collapse.

Next, we will drill a drain hole at the bottom, be careful while doing that so the bottle now is in a very delicate stage (I actually managed to break one....).

I've now finished the cutting phase, moving on to polish some of the rough edges with a sandpaper by hand.

STEP 4: Wooden Base

This step is all about trial and error, this thing is to find the center of gravity with some wood cutting and stabilizing the bottle with the angled wood base.

Start with a piece of wood similar to mine. I've started with slicing the board 45 degrees on both edges.

Then drill/carve the hole for the bottle head also in 45 degrees, then polish it and it's ready.

You might find it aesthetic to paint some coating material on top of the wood base.

STEP 5: Plant!

I went to the local gardening center and bought some cactuses and gravel. I had to clean the gravel, so I put it a bowl and washed it with running water.

Before starting to plant the cactuses i placed the bottle on a piece of cloth. Start with placing some soil at the bottom of the bottle, then place the cactuses.

To stabilize the cactuses I added the gravel which also looks good in my opinion.

STEP 6: Done!

Hope you enjoyed the process!
Thanks for staying this far!

If you liked it, don't hesitate to leave a comment.

Y.

6 Comments

Birdz of a Feather 5 years ago

Great Instructable! I really enjoyed it and will definitely give it a try. I just bought a bunch of succulents so they're just waiting for a project :)

YaronShemesh 5 years ago

Thank you very much! Please do share yours after its done...

YaronShemesh 5 years ago

Thanks!
I don’t think it would work for non straight lines, plus I don’t think you can cut over the corners (different thickness).
I’m sure it can tip over if the weight will change, but you will need a lot of water for it to happened, that’s another reason for the cactus which does not consume a lot of water.

Yonatan24 5 years ago

I think it could, you'll need to extend the length of the bit to do that. Maybe by screwing the bit to long(er) piece of wood and then clamping that piece to the vertical piece of wood, so you can adjust it.

Metzuyan, da'agti la-kineret! :)

YaronShemesh 5 years ago

it might work, it needs to be carefully tested ;)

haha... ze haya mayim mineralim (total of one litre of water won't dry it)