Producing a bottle clock or dish from a recycled bottle is a lengthy process. The bottles can spend anything from 10 to 24 hours in the kiln, at temperatures of up to 800 celsius. This usually takes place over a couple of days. The following information hopefully gives a basic idea of some of the processes involved in turning an empty bottle into a clock, cheeseboard or dish.

How our 'ReBottled!™' bottle clocks (and dishes/cheeseboards!) are made ...

Each bottle clock starts out as an empty glass drinks bottle, collected from local pubs and restaurants (and the occasional bottle enjoyed by us!). After washing the bottles, carefully removing and saving the labels, and ensuring the glass is free from any grease, smears or fingermarks which would remain permanently on the bottle clock once fired, they are then 'slumped' in a kiln for up to 12 hours. This is achieved by slowly increasing the temperature in the kiln until the fusing temperature is reached. The kiln is very efficient (running off a standard 13 amp socket and using a maximum of just 1.8kw, keeping energy usage to a minimum).     

 After the glass has flattened and fused, the kiln is returned to room temperature in further steady stages. It's vital that this process is done slowly, as too sudden a drop in temperature can cause thermal shock, which results in the glass breaking in the kiln. On average, this cooling process will take about 12 hours. 

Once the bottles have cooled and annealed, we drill a hole for the clock through the middle using a special diamond coated glass drill bit. The labels are then re-attached before assembling and fitting the quality quartz clock mechanism which comes with an integral hanging loop. The finished bottle clock runs on one AA battery (not included). Our bottle clocks are not mass produced, but are normally  made to order once a purchase has been made.                                                                       

 (We do have the odd extra bottle clock in stock from time to time as we also attend a few Craft Shows, so if you are needing a clock quickly, it's always worth contacting us to see whether we have something suitable).

 Dishes and cheeseboards undergo a similar firing routine. However, the dishes are melted and slumped into a special mould unique to us, before having soft feet attached to the underneath to protect delicate surfaces. Cheeseboards need to be fired twice, the second firing taking place after a hole has been drilled into the neck to allow the bottle to be hung when not in use. Again, this is a method unique to The Little Glass Kiln. We do this rather than the more usual attaching a wire inside the pre-melted bottle as we think it gives a much nicer finish.