A bottle cutter is a tool for cutting plastic bottles into a tough rope-like material. Over a year ago, I found this video and decided to make a 3d printed version of it. If you would like to support the original creators, here is a link to their site where you can buy the original tool.

As much as I like Instructables, please visit my website ( souzoumaker.com) for more comprehensive guides on my projects. I have greater freedom to play with page layouts on my personal website than I do here. I also have lots of projects displayed there that I don't have here yet.

Step 1: List of Parts and Tools

Parts

3d printed parts (link)
Aluminum strip - from soda can (be careful when cutting)
Threaded Knob 11/64" diameter, any thread, and length of 2/3" or less - from hardware store
Snap-off cutter 9 mm - from hardware store

Tools

Scissors
Super-glue
Pliers

Step 2: Assembly

Wrap your aluminum piece around the slot of one of the cutter guide arms. Bend into a U-shape and cut off any excess. Make two of these U-shaped pieces.

Add a dab of super-glue to the crevice of the slot in the guide pieces. Carefully slide the U-shaped aluminum piece. Use scissors or pliers and flatten the aluminum against the plastic until flat. If the aluminum seems loose, add a drop of super-glue to each end of the slot on the guide.

Repeat the same process as above for the base of the guide, on both slots.

Once dry, add super-glue to the sides of each guide arm and slide into the base. Set aside to dry.

Next, we'll add the threaded knob. This will hold the blue guide against the green base, allowing us to adjust the thickness of our rope. Plastic is soft enough to be self-threading, which means that just by screwing in a threaded knob, the plastic will be threaded on its own. Screw the knob as far as it can go. *Make sure the knob is screwed into the side opposite of the small slot where the blade is inserted.

Use pliers to carefully break off a piece of the cutter into a length of 3 pieces as shown above. Slide the cutter into the green handle with the blade facing the threaded knob.

Unscrew the threaded knob, slide in the blue guide, and screw the knob back in. Moving the blue guide down adjusts the thickness of the rope. I found that markers printed directly into the handle didn't show up well, so I decided to mark the handle with a sharpie as a reference. To do this, unscrew the knob until the guide is loose, slide the guide up and mark as shown above.

Step 3: Final Thoughts

Making the rope takes some practice, so be patient. You will probably end up with a bunch of short unusable strands. I have a step by step guide to cutting bottles on my website. If that still doesn't help try this video tutorial.