who was the moron who went with 2 adjacent small ice trays instead of one long one for this agave ice luge? Oh yeah, that was me π¬Β But thanks to Hornitos tequila for inspiring me to create this design!
10/23/23 added a long ass but also pretty interesting video about agave plants and tequila so you can learn π
my agave ice luge design: for tequila only
If you look at a lot of tequila bottles, you might find an odd looking plant design on it and it might say 100% blue agave or something similar. Since agave plants are used in the production of that Mexican staple, tequila, they’ve become somewhat synonymous with the potent liquor.
since tequila (and to some degree, agave) is exclusively a Mexican thing, it makes sense to have a Cinco de Mayo agave ice luge. But you can put whatever you want in that rectangular area. I substituted a Hornitos logo in the pic at the top.
once again, I don’t show the stabilizing base for the very bottom in the template design for my agave ice luge. But I’d use a piece of ice that was about 35″ x 12″ x 3.5″. Also, the snowfill engraving is done from the FRONT this time. That’s because of the hole for the luge that would get in the way of lettering cut from the back. Finally, the base design and details are supposed to be reminiscent of Mayan pyramids. You can decide how successful that is.
what is an agave anyway?
An agave is a succulent plant (meaning mostly that it’s good at storing water, like cacti) that’s found in arid environments. There’s a good chance that I ran into various agave species when I was a kid, as I used to run around in the high deserts of New Mexico. If I saw one, I probably thought it was a yucca plant, which is closely related to the agave. Agaves often look like yuccas, with long spiky leaves that are probably painful. I know from personal experience that yuccas are painful. Not as bad as cacti, but still not good.
Agave tequilana, not surprisingly is the one usually used to make tequila. More than one agave species can be used to make alcohol, however, A. tequilana evidently has a higher sugar content than most, making it more suitable for alcohol production. A particular variant, blue agave, is especially prized, and is the primary variant used for tequila.
Incidentally, Mexico claims tequila as a uniquely Mexican product, much like the French claim champagne. Mexico allows only certain regions in the country to produce tequila, so at least you can narrow down the blame for your awful hangover π«
if you make an agave ice luge, you MIGHT want to know a little about the agave plant and how it becomes tequila. If not, that’s on you, but I included this video, just in case π€£π€·ββοΈ
Houston, we have a problem
The problem here for the agave ice luge is the luge track. Usually, for most luges, we just run the luge track from the edge of the sculpture down to another edge where the luged liquid exits. Here though, we have the somewhat delicate spiky leaves of the agave that are going to melt kinda quickly. So they make for a bad sculpture edge to start a luge track from.
The solution for this is to attach a piece of ice on the back on which to mount the funnel and start the luge tubing. This adds a bit of complexity, but it’s much better than the alternative.Β
Annoyingly, the luge funnel location isn’t the only problem here. You probably don’t want to try to move this sculpture all in one piece, especially if it’s a long move, like with a vehicle. So you’d move it in two pieces, agave and base, and then assemble it onsite. But the luge tubing crosses the weld, so how do you deal with that?!
The simple solution is to just drill a hole into the top of the base. As you attach the agave to the base, you simply slide the luge tube into the drilled hole so that it continues down through the base. I’ve added a diagram below, because I hate it when someone tries to describe something to me. Just draw me a damn picture!
Important: Keep in mind that by the time the luge tube is at the bottom of the agave, it’s actually going through the center of the agave ice, since it will need to match up with the hole you drilled through the base. If the hole and tube don’t match up, the agave won’t sit properly on the base to be welded. You’ll need to cut the track into the back of the agave a bit when you’re installing the tube to make all this work.
the assembly for your agave ice luge needs to be worked out BEFORE you get to the set up site, wherever that is. Otherwise, something will almost certainly go wrong :/
to cnc or not to cnc
Yup, I’ll totally be using my CNC to sculpt my agave ice luge the next time. I’ve even adjusted the Cinco de Mayo lettering to allow for easier engraving. The Harrington font (the one that Max Zuleta popularized) is very adaptable, but you generally have to work on it a bit to make sure it engraves properly. I converted the type to outlines and did a slight offset of the outlines so that all the letters would fully engrave with a 1/8″ bit. I almost always adjust the Harrington “a”s a little too, since they tend to mess up in my experience.
for more info and some guidelines
If you have any questions about the agave ice luge design, email me or comment below. (It might not let you though.) If you would like to use this ice sculpture design or any other design on this site, please check the design usage guidelines. The design collection page lists designs on the site.
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