I’ve never tried this design (it’s brand spankin’ new!), so I don’t have a photo. If you try it and send me a pic, I’ll post it here. Unless it sucks really bad, of course π
my Dad's tie ice sculpture design
Dad always gets a tie, right? That’s the joke anyway. I will say that when I was a stepdad, I never got a tie. (But stepdads don’t always get the full Father’s Day treatment; no bitterness, that’s just the truth.) And I can’t say that I remember ever getting my dad a tie; he actually tended to wear bolo ties, weirdly. I think I mostly got him a card. And maybe washed his car. Or, better yet, gave him a coupon for a free car wash that I hoped he would lose 
If you want to try to do better than most, here are some Father’s Day gift ideas.
the lower pair of rectangles is a base piece. Usually, there’s not room for a base piece, but there’s plenty here. The interior rectangle just indicates how the base tapers up to the bottom of the main section of the tie ice sculpture.
But I was putting together my collection of Father’s Day ice sculpture designs and I’d already titled it “9 Father’s Day ice sculpture designs that are not a tie.” (Hopefully that number will go a little higher later.) So then I asked myself, “Why don’t I have a tie ice sculpture design?” So now I do.
And actually, as part of the very first ice sculpture that I ever did, there was a tie ice sculpture. I didn’t carve it; I carved an awful “DAD.” But Victor Rede, the guy who first taught me how to sculpt ice, carved a small tie and hung it on my “DAD,” if I remember correctly. (Someplace I have some equally awful photos of my dumpster-fire first ice carving π₯) Thus, it makes sense to me that, decades later, I come up with a small tie ice sculpture design for Father’s Day. Totally not the same design, but same idea.
design variations: for the CNC
Usually, when you carve and engrave with a CNC, you get slightly better results when you engrave from the back side of the ice rather than the front. This isn’t ALWAYS the case though and you need to decide whether backside engraving will hurt or help your sculpture. In this case, it should be slightly helpful, so the main variation on the design that I’ve included is a reverse version.
Also, if you’re going to CNC this piece, consider cutting a hole for a battery LED light in your base while you’re at it. I didn’t put a hole in the picture since I have no idea what kind of light you might use π€·ββοΈ
Finally, this design might make a pretty good luge. But I’m not going to get dad drunk on Father’s Day. If you want to, go ahead…
just like with many engraved pieces, this tie ice sculpture design can also be snowfill engraved from the backside. Often, sculptures engraved from the back seem to last a little longer and the best engraving (which ends up being the bottom, with a flatbed CNC) lasts the longest. With hand snowfill engraving, the best engraving is often at the surface and doesn’t last as long.
for more info and some guidelines
If you have any questions about my tie ice sculpture design for Father’s Day, email me or comment below. (It might not let you though if it’s been a while.) 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.
You might also find photos and info from this entry on the ice sculpting secrets facebook page and you can comment there as well as below. Thanks!
