Welcome, Guest. Please Login
SLINGING.ORG
 
Home Help Search Login


Page Index Toggle Pages: 1
Send Topic Print
Making ice balls with boiled water (Read 551 times)
joe_meadmaker
Slinging.org Administrator
*****
Offline


Slinging Ice is Cool!

Posts: 2889
PA, USA
Making ice balls with boiled water
Feb 21st, 2023 at 9:55pm
 
Nothing too exciting here.  I made a video showing my ice ball making process, and also tried out some boiled water to see if they would come out clear.

https://youtu.be/ICih8DNN_SU
Back to top
 
 
IP Logged
 
CrazyBrave333
Descens
***
Offline


Slinging Rocks!

Posts: 169
Australia
Gender: male
Re: Making ice balls with boiled water
Reply #1 - Feb 21st, 2023 at 10:25pm
 
Hey man thanks for the video, from memory I posted on here suggesting to make ice balls quickly with liquid nitrogen. Someone corrected me saying the faster if freezes the less clear it will be because of the size of the crystals.

I'm also aware (not sure why) but boiled water, if continued to freezing actually freezes relatively faster than water from room temperature (ie if you time them from being the same temperature).

So I found a video on making a fully clear ice sphere - and the trick was to freeze it as slow as possible https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cb5kk9s4wY

Slinging takes you down some crazy rabbit holes...
Back to top
 
 
IP Logged
 
joe_meadmaker
Slinging.org Administrator
*****
Offline


Slinging Ice is Cool!

Posts: 2889
PA, USA
Re: Making ice balls with boiled water
Reply #2 - Feb 21st, 2023 at 11:11pm
 
Cool!  No pun intended.  Smiley

Yeah, using something to insulate and force the freezing to where you want it works.  Definitely more effort than I'm going to put in for sling ammo though.  Grin
Back to top
 
 
IP Logged
 
CrazyBrave333
Descens
***
Offline


Slinging Rocks!

Posts: 169
Australia
Gender: male
Re: Making ice balls with boiled water
Reply #3 - Feb 21st, 2023 at 11:45pm
 
Lol yeah for sure... hours of work and boom - smashed.

Ive gotta get my mold out and start making ice balls again... I was jealous seeing all the ones you had in the freezer
Back to top
 
 
IP Logged
 
IronGoober
Interfector Viris Spurii
*****
Offline


...and now, No. 1, the
larch...

Posts: 1593
California
Gender: male
Re: Making ice balls with boiled water
Reply #4 - Feb 21st, 2023 at 11:53pm
 
Oh, ok. I only watched a short part of the video, but it makes sense.

So the reason you want to freeze it slowly is to keep the solidification front planar... and you want it to be directional solidification.  If it freezes fast, the ice forms dendrites and can potentially trap stuff in between them.  Dendrites cause all the stuff that isn't the perfect crystal to get pushed into the liquid in front of the growing dendrite, but this stuff can become trapped because of the funky shaped nature of the growing dendrites.  When people grow Si crystals, the solidification front is planar, so you end up with a perfect crystal. The directional bit can be accomplished just by insulating the whole thing and keeping the opening exposed. But planar, directional solidification will end up with the most perfect crystal formation,pushing most contamination out in front of the crystal until the last liquid forms ice, trapping all the contaminants there.

Having contaminants like gases and mineral in the water can serve as nucleation points for new ice crystals that causes new crystals to grow, potentially leading to cloudiness. (which is from crystal grain boundaries possibly?)

I made a comment on your video Joe, but I think the directional solidification will do the trick.

Back to top
« Last Edit: Feb 22nd, 2023 at 11:35pm by IronGoober »  

John R.
 
IP Logged
 
joe_meadmaker
Slinging.org Administrator
*****
Offline


Slinging Ice is Cool!

Posts: 2889
PA, USA
Re: Making ice balls with boiled water
Reply #5 - Feb 22nd, 2023 at 5:36pm
 
I think you're absolutely right IG.  I don't have the right setup at the moment to do directional or slower freezing though.  Might have to invest in a cooler that will hold the mold and fit in the freezer.  And maybe another mold that I can punch a drain hole in and have the gas escape area below.

With all these ideas coming in, I'm glad I got the basic statement of 'just boiling twice won't get the ice clear' was basically correct.  I was worried about someone saying, 'You need to boil for 30 minutes and then it works great'.  That would have been disappointing.  Grin
Back to top
 
 
IP Logged
 
Gronk
Tiro
**
Offline


Unga bunga!

Posts: 24
Gainesville, TX
Gender: male
Re: Making ice balls with boiled water
Reply #6 - Feb 25th, 2023 at 11:24pm
 
Hey Joe, I did some hunting on Amazon - had a thought - there's sphere ice molds...but while sniffing about, I found some american football shaped ones - I'm wondering how those would do, given they're the almost perfect shape

Nothing really further to add on the 'clear ice' bit of the discussion, though. Only thing I could think of would be the molds, in an open (or partially so) topped cooler, with a large brick of dry ice under to be the 'only' freezing direction, and that might do - keep the top just warm enough that it's the absolute last to freeze
Back to top
 
 
IP Logged
 
joe_meadmaker
Slinging.org Administrator
*****
Offline


Slinging Ice is Cool!

Posts: 2889
PA, USA
Re: Making ice balls with boiled water
Reply #7 - Feb 26th, 2023 at 9:31am
 
I've seen the molds for more "glande-shaped" ice.  I've never tried them myself.  But you're right, they should work really well.
Back to top
 
 
IP Logged
 
Gronk
Tiro
**
Offline


Unga bunga!

Posts: 24
Gainesville, TX
Gender: male
Re: Making ice balls with boiled water
Reply #8 - Feb 26th, 2023 at 3:36pm
 
Egg shaped mold
3D Easter Egg Baking Mold - MoldFun Easter Egg Silicone
https://a.co/d/aUXKs3F

Football shaped
Ice Cube Trays, Football ice Cube Mold Reusable Silicone Flexible Ice Maker Makes Six Ice Ball Molds, Perfect for Whiskey, Cocktail
https://a.co/d/iuJs40c
Back to top
 
 
IP Logged
 
Page Index Toggle Pages: 1
Send Topic Print
(Moderators: Mauro Fiorentini, David Morningstar, Masiakasaurus, Bill Skinner, Rat Man, Chris, Curious Aardvark)