Ice

Types of Ice

1.Can Ice

2.Clinebell Ice

3.Natural Ice

TYPE 1. CAN ICE

This is the old school block of ice and was commonly used to carve. Some can ice could be purchased at 55” tall as well as 46” tall. The bigger blocks were commonly referred to as 450’s because there weight was 450 lbs. The smaller 43” to 45” tall blocks weighed 350 lbs.

The can is submerged into a brine solution. The core occurs because a bubbler or pump is set down the middle of the can. This agitates and stirs the solution causing the outside to freeze clear. The impurities then gather at the center of the block as the freezing continues, and that creates the core.

Advantages

You are able to pull can ice out of a freezer and be ready to carve. The tempering process for a can block is much shorter than that of a Clinebell block, and they are much less temperamental because of the core in the center of the ice.

Can ice is cheaper than the Clinebell carving blocks. The can block can be made in larger quantities at a faster rate.

Disadvantages

The core in each block is not consistent as well as the height and clarity of the blocks. Does not make a great presentation on single block sculptures because of the high visibility of the feather.

They are tapered from top to bottom. This is so the ice falls out of the can after the freezing process. This shape makes it more difficult to stack larger carvings. The face of each block also has a dip, so to freeze blocks together face to face becomes even more challenging.

Advantages

clear ice blocks are a more consistent product.

Every block measures exactly 40” tall 20” wide. The depth can vary. Most icehouses will trim ice to measure between 9 ½” to 10” deep. This makes for ease in stacking large projects, with the ice having flat surfaces at equal dimensions.

Disadvantages

This process is more time consuming to make and not as easy to mass-produce.

The clear block has to be tempered to carve outside the freezer. It is not uncommon to pull a block of ice out and wait for it to temper for 2 to 3 hours before actually cutting into it.

Clear blocks are prone to shattering if you saturate with water or leave in direct sunlight, after pulling out of the freezer. This is because the ice has no feather. Extreme changes in temperature will cause cracking and shattering as well.

TYPE 2. CLEAR ICE

Clear ice is machines are named Clinebell after the company that created the process to make the crystal clear carving blocks. This block is frozen from the bottom up in a well that has spring hinges. Pumps are used to circulate the water at the top of each well. As the freezing process continues all of the impurities are collected at the top of the block. When each block is harvested the block is stood up and all the impurities are shaved off. This creates a crystal clear carving block. It takes 3 to 4 days for one machine to make two Clinebell blocks.

TYPE 3. Natural Ice

This ice comes from a man made pond free from algae and bubbles so there is no cracking. Blocks come in a variety of sizes; at the world championships in Fairbanks AK they use two standard sizes, 4ft x 5ft x 32 inches or 4 ft x 8ft x 32 inches. The only variable on this ice is the thickness in inches. Depending on how cold the winter is the ice can range from 30 to 36 inches in depth. The ice can be harvested at any dimension.

Some ice is stored throughout the summer (at Ice Alaska) in the park where it is harvested. The ice is packed together in sawdust and covered for the summer months. When winter comes around again, they just pull out the ice and go to town. Pretty neat stuff….