Making glassware from old bottles is not only dangerous, it is not very cost-effective.
On YouTube, there are videos galore about the strangest things. Most of them, I think, are click-bait, designed to get you to watch, so the channel owner makes money from advertisements. People upload copyrighted videos, for example, and then reverse the image or otherwise alter it so Google's copyright bots won't take it down. Pretty neat trick, and you earn money from the ads.
Or you put up a video with an alarming thumbnail. People click on the video, but of course, the picture in the thumbnail is no where in the video. Made ya click! And it makes money for the channel owner.
Monetizing this blog has helped me understand, first hand how this all works. I could make a boatload of coin by putting up videos or blog postings that are click-bait and then rake in the advertising dough. Some people actually get quasi-famous and maybe make a living at it. Saabkyle04, for example, started off with charming videos of the used cars available in his neighborhood. "Without further ado..." he became a minor YouTube star and is now reviewing Lamborghini's. Too bad, too, because his early videos are far more fun, even though the production values aren't as great. But it was rewarding to see this somewhat awkward kid make it from high-school videographer to the big time.
Others, particularly from overseas, put up shit videos or shit blogs (more on that in another posting). Slap together a video on a topical posting and put it online. For example, there are several (if not dozens) of videos on how to make glassware from old bottles using string and lighter fluid. I am not sure how we found these, but I think Mark was looking into glass slumping (melting glass in a kiln) and we found a boatload of apparently Russian videos on how to make glassware from a wine bottle using a piece of string and lighter fluid. I mentioned these before in this blog. What is up with that? A couple of things:
1. It is a topical "trick" so you get hits by making a video on the subject and make money.
2. You can use the video to show how the technique doesn't work and then sell people a commercial-grade bottle cutter.
Regardless, making glassware from old bottles is really not a swell idea. Why? Well, to begin with, to do it right you will have to buy a lot of expensive tools, such as a real glass cutter, and also be able to round the sharp edges, either by sanding or using a torch to melt the edges smooth. The net result is a pretty ugly glass that cuts your lip. A nicer glass can be had at the Dollar Tree for.... a dollar.
Spending $5 to save a dollar and ending up with an inferior product just makes no sense at all. Put the bottles in the recycle bin (in Maine, they garner 15 cents deposit!) and just buy glassware at the store.
RONCO sold a bottle cutter back in the 1970's. Even back then, this was a pretty poor economic proposition.
Just because something is on a YouTube video doesn't mean it is a good idea. And these "tips and tricks" videos are just clickbait to get people to watch the channel and garner advertising dollars. Sadly, the YouTube algorithm often lets junk like this float to the top of their septic tank.
Anyway, we tried this technique and found it was hardly a good way to cut bottles into glasses. We had fun emptying the bottles, though!
