How To Make An Ice Sculpture

If you want to amaze your customers with top-notch ice, then you may need to perfect the art of ice sculptures as perfected by the American-Japanese ice studio operator, Shintaro Okamoto.

The main advantage of using sculptured ice is that its surface area is significantly reduced, meaning that its rate of melting is equally reduced. This allows your customers to enjoy cold drinks for longer without having to keep adding ice to their drinks every now and then. Ice sculpting also reduces excessive dilution.

Thanks to the Okamoto Studio, New York City’s bar and restaurant owners can now wow their customers with custom sizes and shapes of ice that are perfectly trimmed, unbelievably dense, and extremely clear. You, too, can improve your restaurant, hotel, or bar by learning how to make an ice sculpture.

Making Ice Sculptures

First and foremost, it is important that we mention that you’ll need to acquire a block Ice from your trusted ice company if you are to make a perfect, clear ice sculpture. Making the blocks at home is time-consuming and totally unreliable. With that out of the way, let’s proceed to the key steps:

Step 1: Make Out the Outline of Your Sculpture

Which is your ideal ice sculpture? Draw an outline of it on a poster board.

Step 2: Cut it out

Using a chainsaw or a wood cutting chain, carefully cut out the drawing so that you have a template. Be careful with the saw so that you don’t unintentionally damage the ice. Make all the cuts and curves carefully and patiently until the saw cannot make the template any smoother.

Step 3: Make the template even finer using specialized tools

If you own an angle grinder and a wood chisel, you are good to go. If you don’t, improvise or acquire the two important tools.

Now it is time to correct all the imperfections the ice sculpture has. You can cut using the grinder, for example or a chisel. Work on all the imperfections that you notice until you get that beautiful finish you’re looking for.

Congratulations on your first ice sculpture.

If you’d love to do this all over again, please contact us for all your subsequent ice delivery needs. We are a family-owned and highly-reputable ice company based in NYC. We have made a name in the industry for our honest pricing, quick delivery, and fast customer service.