The other day I was scouting for 40 oz. beer bottles whose bottoms I remove and use to make arrowheads. Having found one I placed it in a plastic grocery bag to carry as I continued my search. At the end of my excursion I began to remove it from the bag but noticed that it was oily and coated with grease. Rather than handle the bottle, I decided to keep it inside the plastic bag with only the neck poking out the top. As I inserted the metal rod into the neck of the bottle to poke out the bottom it dawned on me that all pieces of glass would be captured inside the bag and that it was a safer process.

For some people this may have been an obvious approach but for other folks like me it was a great revelation. A slight challenge in this process is that the bottle is not visible while you strike it so it becomes more of a “feel” of proper rod placement while striking the bottom. If you follow the suggestions in “Removing Beer Bottle Bottoms” and with a little practice it should become second nature for this procedure.

Of course, take care when retrieving the bottle bottom from inside the bag. Once removed I recommend tying off the top of the bag that contains the remainder of the bottle parts before disposing it in the trash or recyclable bin.

There are different methods to remove the bottle bottoms. One interesting method used for small 12oz. bottles is by using only your hand as illustrated in “Popping Off Bottle Bottoms By Hand“. Larger bottles become progressively more difficult and I have yet to break out a 40oz. bottle.

For larger sizes I find that a metal rod works well. My friend uses a steel chisel or punch, blunt side down, inside the bottle and shakes it up and down while his thumb covers the top. I prefer to use tire irons and rebars to poke it out. In the past, when I have used a tire iron, I would place the blade parallel with the seam at the bottom to strike it. However, I found that it was easy to punch small holes in the process that could jeopardize the removal. Recently I discovered that I could rotate the blade slightly, say about 15 degrees inward or so and the bottoms would break out quite consistently in a single piece.

Should you have the need for glass, bottles are easily obtained from trash or recycle containers and you can try these techniques for yourself. It’s wise to wear eye protection and perhaps sturdy gloves too. Don’t forget to pick up any glass shards left behind when you’re finished.