Introduction: Vintage Soda Bottle Ice Mold

About: I'm a High School-er at Brookings Harbor High School. I have taken multiple classes and know how to program, 3D print and CNC, Wire, and know all about Computer Sciences.

       Have you ever been ashamed of your blandness of the party that you put together? Is your ice just not cool enough for your punch? Well kiss those problems goodbye! With this vintage soda bottle ice mold you can have the coolest ice to put in your soda. You can have miniature soda bottles as your ice when you drink your soda! Mind completely blown right!? 


Step 1: Files

       To make this mold I had to digitally produce it using a 3D modeling program. This takes a bit of time to make a mold this detailed so I'll give you the files I used to make this.  In a upcoming instructable I will show you how to make your own custom mold so stick around my page for that upcoming instructable!

Step 2: Materials Needed & Printing

      In order for you to make these soda ice molds your going to need these materials.

- A 3D Printer (Preferably an UP Printer!) 

- Non-Permanent sealant

- Water

-Ice Box or Freezer


Printing

      Now using the STL files I gave you above you now need to print it using a 3D printer. An UP printer would be best for this type of project. Depending on what kind of printer your going to use you might have to scale the mold up or down. Preferably up because that will give you most likely a better print.

Step 3: Water-proofing Plastic

           Now that you got the two parts of the mold printed out you now need to waterproof the mold. There are several ways you could do this. I will give the list of ways you could do this for you to make it easier on you than brainstorming all the ideas.


Wax 

      This idea is easiest if you happen to have a spare candle laying around. 
Start by heating up the candle by either lighting it or using a heater or whatever your comfortable with to get the wax to a liquid state. T
hen slowly pour it evenly in the mold. Make sure you do this to both sides of the mold. 
(This part will make it so water wont seep out through the Mold.)

Sealing

This part is crucial to actually having this work. Start by buying some not permanent sealant if you don't have any. Then carefully apply it to the edges of the mold so water can't escape along the edges when to two parts are pushed together. Leave a gap at the top by the indenture that leads from the top of the bottle to the outside of the block. 

Sanding

This part would be nice to do if you don't have any wax. Sand the bottom of both mold blocks and sides. This will close most of the holes that the ABS plastic extruder from the thing-o-matic would have made during the print. You can also use the sanding's and put them in the mold itself and rub it in to get rid of some more holes!

Step 4: Setting the Mold

      The process is almost done! You now need to get the water into the sealed mold. You can make this process easier if you have a small funnel. Slowly pour the water into the hole to get the most water at a time into the mold. You might want to put something over the top of the mold's top hole to prevent water from pouring over the edge. While always holding it up, place it gently in the freezer.
Then wait for it to freeze and enjoy an amazing work of art for your beverage cooler!

Step 5: History of the Mold

What did I Make?

      I made the Mold for one of my Freshman High-School classes.  I made this with an idea, computer and a Makerbot. It started as a project and continued as a one of my own hobbies off of School Campus. This came out as the result of the project and extra free time. It works like any extra mold does, just by pouring the designated fluid into the mold. This is an Ice mold though and uses water.

How did I make the Mold?

   I came up with the idea for the project in one of my High School classes. We were all assigned a project to make and see it through. At the time I didn't  know what to do so I didn't push my creativity but waited for an idea. The idea came to when I was taking out ice of my fridge. We used 2D molds to make our Ice and realized how nice it would be for me to have my own design. All I needed know was to find out what that design should be. I figured it would be very humorously ironic if I had miniature soda bottles in my soda. I then made sure my instructor approved of the idea before I set to work on it. I then set to work on 3D modeling the mold. It was a simple design once I had figured out how to make it. I then used my Schools Makerbot to print it out with decent success. 

             Where did I Make It?

    I started this project at my High School but was pushed by myself to work on it outside of school. I did the majority of the project at School. This got my family quite a bit involved as well when they saw what I was able to accomplish with this mind-set. 

What did I learn through this?

   This process was a majority of learning on the fly since I have never done this kind of thing before. I didn't know if the mold would hold the water in or not and I had to try a lot of things to get it work. I had to learn how to make my mold work even with a not to well done print. I made up all these fixes with some advice form my teacher to get this to work. I learned patience is key in a project like this and perseverance will see me to the end.

Step 6: What Would I Do With an UP Printer?

     I  use an old thing-o-matic to make parts for my school when we go to FRC and FTC competitions every year. The thing-o-matic is prone to breaking down every week and is increasingly hard to repair. It also has an extremely small printing platform and to add on to that it is extremely slow. An UP Printer wouldn't go to me but would go to my school where it would be used on a regular basis to make important parts for the education of many students to come up in the future.  To receive this would mean the world to the school. 

                                                                                                                                 - Thank You
                                                                                                                                         Chris Burton

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