Cocktail Cubes and Spheres
There are multiple way to do cubes and sphere depending on your company’s set up. Here is a guide to the most popular ones
Ice Cubes
RECOMMENDED: Bandsaw Method – The band saw is the fastest and easiest way if you have room for one in your freezer. Simply buy a band saw, we recommend a food grade butcher’s meat band saw. Using slabs of your desired thickness, cut the slab into sticks at the band saw. You can then take the stick and cut into cubes. A butchers’ saw with a moveable table allows you to easily do multiple sticks at a time, increasing Speed and productivity
CNC Method – The most common method and does add flexibility such as engraving logos on the cubes. This process takes more time, even with blank cubes, and normally requires extra cleaning. Simply write a program for your slab that cuts a grid out. Remember to take into account loss from the bit. If you use a 1/4″ cube to make 2″ cubes, and forget to take the thickness of the bit into account, then you will end up with 1 3/4″ cubes instead of 2. For bits to use, we recommend using a 1/8″ or 1/16″ for engraving, and that you keep the engraving simple. For the cut out we recommend using a 1/4″ XL bit, though a 1/8″ SL bit can also be used, however, the 1/8″ tends to back the show in more making it harder and more time consuming to clean the cubes
Hybrid Method – Some carvers will engrave on the CNC and then take it to their band saw for finishing. Depending on the skill of your employee cutting, you may only need to do the engraving, or you may need to have some guides on there. You can trace on lines at about 1/8″ deep or 1/16″ deep for them to follow
Ice Spheres
RECOMMENDED: Drill Press – The drill press is the easiest way to get started with sphere. You do need some equipment, a Drill Press, sphere jig, and sphere bit. You will also want a small drill bit to help you align the table. After mounting the sphere jig to you drill press, place the black cover over the hole for the sphere. There will be a slight dimple in the middle of the cover. Using a small drill bit, adjust the table until the bit if over the dimple. If done right you jig should now be in the correct position. You will now need to make some blanks to get your spheres out of. Most people use a CNC for this. I recommend at least 6 inches across. The key is that all corners must be 90 degrees. Then simple take it to the drill press with the sphere bit installed, drill the top half of the sphere in each corner, flip and repeat. The sphere should drop out through the hole and roll out of the jig. Make sure to have a box or container ready to catch them. I recommend foam of a cushion of some time to keep the form breaking when they fall in. Also make sure every so often to move the foam so the the done spheres are behind it and the new ones do not hit them and crack
CNC – On the surface this seems like the easiest method, however once something does happen it is the hardest to correct. You must be sure that you CNC is square, ridged, and gears and belts tight with no play in them. Start be designing your program, making sure to have 4 guide holes done with a 1/2″ bit in each corner. we have ours a 1,1 – 1,39 – 39,19 – 19,1. We also drill these holes, using the CNC and and old 1/2″ into the table. The slab should be about 1/2″+ thicker than the sphere. Make sure to also buy 1/2″ rods. Acrylic is recommended. Start by drilling your guide holes, you can prep multiple slabs before doing the actual spheres. Then place the slab on the table, putting the guide rods in. We recommend using opposite corners of the slab if you are only using 2 rods. Run your sphere program getting the first half of the spheres. RPMs should not exceed 1900 or you risk damaging the bit, we recommend 1200-1400 rpms. Your plunge rate will vary by the power of your spindle or router, so we can not give a recommendation there. After side one is done, flip the slab and repeat on side 2. If you can not get the guide holes aligned and rods in, likely your machine is out of square and the spheres will not come out correctly. If they do, simply continue and you should have a batch of sphere ready in about 1/2 – 1 hour depending on your machine.
Molds
Molds are great when you are doing small batches and don’t want to, or can’t spend thousands on a drill press, bandsaw, or CNC. We have both Cube and Sphere Molds. The down sides are time, as you have to wait for the ice to freeze, and clarity, you may still get some white and bubbles, though with our molds it is much more clear than a home ice cube. Molds do have one major benefit, you can freeze items in them, such as fruit or edible flowers. Keep in mind you will get bubbles in the ice cube or sphere as the surface tension of the water will cause air to be trapped on the item you are freezing in
Presses
Presses are more for showmanship then for production. They are great for a bar or restaurant that can take a ice blank, place it in the press, then make the drink while the press is working. Presses are usually all metal and this also make them expensive.