# Bottle Repair



## azokie

Hi -

 Does anyone have advice on how to repair cracks or dings in a bottle?  Is there a way to make the cracks or dings appear less visible?

 Can anybody refer a professional bottle repair technician?

 Any help would be much appreciated.

 Thanks -
 Brent


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## BRIAN S.

Hi azokie and welcome to the forum !
  Cracks are not fixable as far as I know at the current time. Dings/chips can be repaired with epoxy and other new fillers at the present time. I have seen some VERY , VERY good repairs to chips that are almost undetectable to the naked eye and only showed up under blacklight . But , it is quite costly to have these repairs done by a professional. 
 You may want to try the repair yourself if it's not a valuable bottle. 
    Brian


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## kumtow

Hi Azokie and Brian,

 A few years ago I had the oportunity to buy a Thistle whiskey (circa 1850) that had a crack about 2 inches long.  This is a very rare and sought after Aussie bottle and it was very cheap.  Before I bought it I was watching a glass blower in a shopping center blowing dolphins and other animals etc.  When he had a break I asked him if anything could be done with this bottle ie Heating it with his blow torch until the glass at the crack refused.  He explained that this would be very dangerous as the impurities in the old glass and in the crack would probably make it explode.  I didn't bother buying the bottle, once they are cracked, they are cracked.


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## BRIAN S.

Alan 
 My Brother and I have been working on a method to repair cracks ( without reheating the glass ) or to at least make the crack less visible. We may be barking up the wrong tree ! But , we are experiment a little and we will let you know how it goes. Who knows ..... we may come up with something !    Brian


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## woody

I've heard that using superglue will help hide the crack when it is applied inside the crack.


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## Gunsmoke47

Hey azokie, as Brian and Alan have stated, cracks are bad news but fellow forum member baltbottles (Chris Rowell) repairs chips and nicks and the like. He has done one for me and I was very pleased. You might email him and tell him what you got. I'm sure he would tell you if he could help you or not.  Kelley


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## kumtow

Hi Woody,
              Mate, how the hell do you apply superglue to the inside of a crack?  Or do you mean the inside of the bottle?  If I could get superglue to the inside of a crack the bottle would be broken,  wouldn't it? [8|]
 I am about to put superglue on the inside of lots of cracks in a 2 foot tall display Roses Cordial bottle.  I bought it from the UK and sadly it arrived in about 80 pieces.[X(]


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## azokie

Thanks to all who have responded.  I really appreciate the information.  I'd like to see any other good advice as well.

 Sincerely -
 Brent


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## woody

I believe they use the same technique they use on repairing cracks in windshieds, Alan.
 Although I've never tried it I've heard that some cracks can be repaired with this method. I don't know how you would repair a crack that is inside the glass, but if a crack has broken through the surface of the glass it should be able to absorb the adhesive.
 If I dig a bottle with a crack I usually will toss it aside and leave it where it lies, unless it's a super rare bottle.
 Some people will bring black lights to bottle shows to see if a bottle has been glued/repaired in any way. I guess the glue will show up under the light.


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## kumtow

Hmmmm... That is food for thought Woody.  I think I'll go find out.  We have a number of those repair shops where I live.  Too late for me to buy that Thistle whisky thought as it is gone.
 Thanks for that Woody, your not just a pretty face after all.[]


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## flasherr

I have an idea but have no way of trying this. Police use super glue in a a vacuum container of some sorts for analyzing stuff. As you see ive watched a few cop shows lol. But they put superglue in something then vacuum it and the superglue fumes will attach itself across the item. Maybe someone can take this idea and figure away to use this for fixing cracks or atleast prevent them from growing. Im not sure what it will do to the bottle over all but if tried on a junk bottle it wont matter.  Well that's my brain fart for today
 Brian


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## Dirranbandi

Hi List

 A few years back here in Australia, there was some 'trial and error' work going on with cracked bottles using the Windscreen Repairers techniques for restoring/repairing glass, i.e. vacuum sealing using a resin/epoxy glue. I think the main difficulty was in actually creating a complete vacuum seal unless the bottle had a wide mouth. I haven't heard of anyone trying this for a while, so I guess the experiment was unsuccessful.  

 There are various glass repair epoxies available from hardware stores and I have seen bottles with chips/nicks repaired using these - after a while though the resins usually change colour and stand out like a sore thumb.

 Other techniques I have heard include lacquering although that was more for pitted bottles rather than cracks; other collectors have also soaked bottles in oil or glycerine in an attempt to fill the crack and improve its appearance on display. But most of these techniques only temporarily hide the damage.

 Cheers,

 Dirranbandi


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## bearswede

I've been experimenting with casting resin... You buy the resin and a "fixing" liquid and some dyes... Mix the resin with a few drops of the dyes to get aqua, emerald green or amber as close to the bottle's color as you can get... Then you add some fixer. I've been using scotch tape to create a mold... This works best with chips around the lips or the base... Sometimes it takes several applications to get it right...

 I've done a decent repair on the thin flared lip of a Shaker Valarian bottle... Also, a flat nickel-sized chip on the base of a Hasken's Spring mineral water...

 The bottles display great, but so far they still prove hard to sell...


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## Basil.W.Duke

can you email me the products used. cwdigger10@yahoo.com

i have quite a few favorite pontil bottles with minor chips


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## ROBBYBOBBY64

Opticon optical glass repair.


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