HOW TO DECORATE A BIG BOTTLE
A three liter bottle has the volume of 4 regular-size bottles of wine. It’s heavy and cumbersome but it gives lots of area to engrave a message. This is one of my favorites from the Bogle Winery folks…and it’s an excellent red wine as well.
First, I engraved the recipient’s name on a piece of flat glass with a #6 round carbide bur in my Presto oil-less hand piece. I placed a piece of 3M clear tape across the ‘draft’ on flat glass and quickly traced the letters on the tape. That gave me an accurate pattern for centering the actual engraving of the name above the label. It was then engraved.
The ‘Congratulations’ line was engraved first, just above the label, with a #4 round carbide. Below that, the names of the givers. Then, I did the poem in reverse, beginning where I wanted the last line to be. Since the typed copy that was provided was set flush left, that’s the way I did the layout, making slight adjustments so the capital letters would not interfere with each other. Essentially, I determined the whole poem would be centered in the available space between the top and bottom of the bottle, not counting the neck. After the bottom line was done, I determined the space for the position of the third baseline and put it down.
My baselines are done by putting a piece of clear tape where the line will be. Instead of drawing a line with a marker…which is always difficult to see on dark bottles…I rub a dot of Rub ‘N Buff along the edge of the tape. All visible color is rubbed off the glass, then the tape is pulled up. A razor thin line of color remains at the tape line.
The other baselines were drawn the same way, one at a time. When all the engraving was done, I rubbed Antique Gold Rub ‘N Buff all over the engraved area; the baselines are rubbed off when all the excess color is removed, first with several cotton balls, then with a SCOTCH BRITE metal dish scrubber.
These overgrown bottles are splendid gifts but you’ll not find them in the stores and you can’t usually buy them. The wineries produce a limited run of these impressive bottles for promotional use and gifts to those in the sales force who peddle the most wine. Of course if you make friends with the right reps and favor them with some of your skill, you’re likely to be in a position for a bit of bartering for one.
Cheers!
-Ken 214.250.6958
Oh yes, we now have only 4 seats left in the January Ken Brown Professional Engraving Seminar in January where you learn to make this kind of magic yourself.
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