Ice Making

Each block maker has two wells for making ice. On the first day run two pumps, one on either end of the well. The more the water circulates the slower the block will freeze; this will help eliminate coil lines on the ice. When the ice freezes too fast you have a better chance of white or less clear ice on the face of the block.

Place a plastic liner into the well and fill with water. Place metal clips inside the liner so they freeze into the edge of the block. Place pumps as shown above.

Allow three to four days to freeze to desired thickness.

Once block is frozen, suck out excess water with a wet-dry vacuum before pulling. If any excess water remianes it could cause the block to shatter if it touches the sides or face of the ice. (the face is the part of the block that is created at the bottom of the well)

Use a cherry picker or any over-head hoist with a lifting bar. The lifting bar matches the metal plates that are frozen into the block. This will allow the ice to be hoisted out of the well.

Pull the plastic liner off the block before laying the block down. It is best to place block on a hand truck lying horizontal on the ground.

Stand the block up and you are ready to mill the block to your desired depth (we trim to 9 ½ ”). We use the Alaskan lumber mill with the Stihl E220 with a 28” bar.

The ice block is placed on a wood platform that measures 4.5” tall x 18” length x 12” width. This allows the lumber mill to cut through the entire block of ice.

By trimming the block you are cutting away all impurities. This will create a crystal clear piece of ice.

Tip:

Remember that before you carve you need to temper your ice! Pull the ice out about one hour before you want to carve and once the block is completely sweating you know you are safe to carver with out any shatering.

Each block weighs about 275 lbs. after trimming and measures 40” x 20” x 10” (providing you trim your ice at 10”) Each well uses about 40 gallons of water.