Author Topic: Aluminum Ice Ball/Sphere Press  (Read 5917 times)

Offline Marcus000

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Aluminum Ice Ball/Sphere Press
« on: November 05, 2013, 06:06:13 PM »
Hi all, I'm new to the forum and am looking for some design help and then hopefully find somebody who may be interested in turning it into a finished item for a fee.

It's a bit of a gimmicky piece really - it's an ice ball press.

The idea is you get a large square or rectangular chunk of ice, load it into the aluminum press.
At room temperature the alu. quickly melts the ice and forms it into the shape of the mould / press - in this case a perfect sphere.
There's no fancy electronics involved, it's just gravity and science working at it's finest.

Example -


My design is very basic at the moment - the asthetics of the whole thing can be spruced up at a later date but for now I'm just after getting it to function correctly.
Do you guys have any better ideas on how to install the stainless guide rods?

I have seen somebody else use stainless rods in the bottom half with delrin/acetal runners sliding over the top of them but I'm not sure why they needed those to be added in the first place.


Photobucket seems to be down for maintenance so hopefully I've attached the drawings to this post instead.

Offline Brass_Machine

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Re: Aluminum Ice Ball/Sphere Press
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2013, 11:40:24 AM »
Hi Marcus

Can you post up an intro in the Introduction part of the forum? It would very useful to know what part of the world you are in.

I have seen one of these in person. It is pretty neat.

Some of the concerns would be:

1. Drainage. Like one of the videos, some sort of drain would be good.
2. The delrin acts pretty much as lubricated guide. Not a lot of wear against SS. Not that this piece would much wear... but still. Some people out there are using delrin nuts in CNC machines.
3. Depending on the machines used and the size of the sphere, it may be difficult to get it perfect.
4. The aluminum should be treated... anodized.

Eric
Science is fun.

We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.

Offline Brass_Machine

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Re: Aluminum Ice Ball/Sphere Press
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2013, 11:45:32 AM »
OK. Looked at the drawings a little better...

There is a reason most of the ones you see on-line are round. Easier to chuck in a lathe and use a ball turner (reversed) or CNC to get the correct shape on the sphere.

The rods? You have a couple of ways to do it. Press them in one side and a slip fit on the other. Or you could thread the rod and tap the the block. I refer the previous way though. Either way, delrin guides on the opposite block would be good too.

Eric
Science is fun.

We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.

Offline awemawson

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Re: Aluminum Ice Ball/Sphere Press
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2013, 12:05:06 PM »
No that idea is a total non starter  :bugeye:

 :clap: By the time that ice ball from the video gets into your glass there's NO room for whisky  :clap:


BTW : welcome aboard - be nice to hear about you :  who what where how why & when etc


Andrew
Andrew Mawson
East Sussex

Offline Marcus000

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Re: Aluminum Ice Ball/Sphere Press
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2013, 06:19:20 PM »
Hi all, thanks for the replies.  I'm up in not so sunny Lancashire, Burnley to be precise.
My background is mainly CAD design and refinishing - I'm a qualified paint sprayer and I've tinkered with anodising and powder coating as well.
I've done a lot of work with local laser cutters and fabricators but never got the chance to do any proper hands on machining hence I find myself on here instead.

Back to the design - the images above are a stripped back design, I do have a larger and more complex design kicking around as well though I abandoned because I couldn't find any 3" ice cube trays.  The largest I can find readily available is 2".

Pictures below show the delrin rods being included and a sort of drainage channel around the edge of the block.