how to cut the bottom off a water jug?

[crypt0]

I know I know it sounds like a silly newbish question.

I have a 5 gallon water jug that I'm converting to a mill hopper. I just want to make a nice straight clean cut off the bottom of the water bottle. Just curious what other people have done.

 

[Hermit]

Wrap a long piece of paper around it. Long enough that it does a nice overlap and it will provide a nice straight guide.

 

[Strongbad52]

Just do a rough cut below the line where you want the finished edge to be and then go back with a good pair of scissors and clean it up. That way you are not struggling with the bottom of the bottle when you are trying to cut a level edge.

 

[crypt0]

Thanks for the quick replies!

what type of tool did you guys use? Due to the size of the water bottle I figure a good guide using methods suggested above and a jigsaw would probably do the trick

 

[gestyr]

Take a piece of copper wire and wrap it around the jug where you want the cut to be. connect the ends of the wire (briefly) to a 6 volt lantern battery. The wire will heat up and cut through the jug.

 

[Bobby_M]

Best way? 1/4" flute bit in a router table and two wooden stops against the fence as a circular cradle.

 

[sanch]

Bobby m's idea is pretty good you could also use a table saw in the same fashion. place the base of the jug against the fence and an auxiliary fence on the back side of the blade perpendicular to the blade to keep the jug square. also keep your blade very low only high enough to get through the jug's skin, this will help with tear out. clean it up with sand paper and maybe a torch.

 

[WPStrassburg]

Bobby m's idea is pretty good you could also use a table saw in the same fashion. place the base of the jug against the fence and an auxiliary fence on the back side of the blade perpendicular to the blade to keep the jug square. also keep your blade very low only high enough to get through the jug's skin, this will help with tear out. clean it up with sand paper and maybe a torch.

If you do it with the table saw just make sure you cut on the flat of the bottle and not the taper. I cut just the bottom 1/8" off the bottom and it got a little hairy when the cut was almost complete and I still ended up launching the bottom across the shop. In hindsight a router table with the stops and an upcut bit would be the best option.

 

[Catt22]

I used an angle grinder with a metal cut-off disc. Not real kosher, but it gets the job done no problem. A Dremel with a cut-off disc would probably work just as well. I just followed the edge of the rib just above the bottom of the bottle as a guide.

 

[ChshreCat]

I'd use a 10kw laser.

Or a dremel if I didn't have the laser.

 

[Wolfy]

I cut mine with a hacksaw and then cleaned it up with a hand-file, simple and easy, but probably not quite as neat as some of the methods described above.

 

[Baja_Brewer]

This seemed to work fine for me:

But yeah... I'd use a utility knife then fix the edges...

 

[azscoob]

I wrapped electrical tape around where I wanted to cut to give me a basic guide, then I used a carpet knife to cut the bottom off, I finished the edge with my 90° die grinder and a scotchbrite scruffy pad

 

[BeerCanuck]

I ran a blow torch around the bottom edge of the 5 G water bottle until it was soft enough (turned white) and then cut with a good pair of scissors. I can place the "hopper" on top of my 7 lb Barley Crusher hopper and load 20 + lbs of grain now.

 

[Banjoman76]

I used to use a jigsaw on PVC tube from 5 inches up to 24 inches after marking a line with pipe-wrap and a wax pen. Then sand the edges.
I still have 8 fingers and two thumbs

 

[jeffmeh]

I just used a jigsaw and went to town. I would not want to disqualify it from the ugly junk category.

 

[marzsit]

a 3" slotting saw chucked in a medium floor drill press, locked at the proper cutting height.