I struggled a bit to get a pic of my brand new #1 DAD ice sculpture. The background is challenging and they had me set it up while the dining room was already open for business, so the situation didn’t really lend itself to taking the time to get a good photo.
my #1 DAD ice sculpture design
If you’re reading this soon after I posted this, you might be thinking: Dude, Father’s Day is months away. Why in the world are you posting this #1 DAD ice sculpture design now?
If you’ve read a lot of my calendar-related design posts on this site though, you might know what happened. I came up with a last minute design for Father’s Day brunch and there wasn’t time to post BEFORE Father’s Day so that it was useful. Then I got sidetracked. And THEN I decided I’d better post it before I forgot everything about creating the sculpture. So here it is, just in time for you to wish you’d had it last year 😬
I have a sentimental reason for posting this
I do have another reason to post this now. As I was coming up on 200 designs on the site, it kinda seems like the number 200 design should be a little special. I think I missed the boat when I was at 100 designs, so maybe I’m just making up for that. But this design is my 200th posted design. And that’s significant since the very first ice sculpture I ever made was a “DAD” ice sculpture, decades ago, when Chef Victor Rede was first crazy enough to let me use his little red Shindaiwa chainsaw on a block of ice. (Predictably, the results were awful 🤮)
my #1 DAD ice sculpture design is similar to another of my designs, the vertical DAD. But the approach is a bit different.
ok, this is one way to make the #1 DAD ice sculpture, with a sandwich template: these 2 thinner slabs are sculpted and frozen together, freezing the design inside the sculpture. The second, backside slab has an inset. Since the 2 slabs are only frozen then together at the edges, this helps avoid some of the freeze defects that often result from freezing large slabs of ice together.
this is the standard way and more typical way to make the #1 DAD ice sculpture: the design is engraved from the front of the ice slab.
design notes
Two things, mainly, about this design. First, you don’t have to engrave around the “#1” like I did. I was actually curious if I could get the number symbol to engrave on my CNC without breaking it. It turned out pretty well. Especially if you’re engraving this by hand though, it’s a lot easier to outline the diamond and then engrave the “#1” directly.
Second, you certainly don’t have to use my sandwich method. You can make the main portion of the sculpture out of one piece of ice rather than two. That way is way less technical and can save you a lot of time. And since this piece isn’t in color, the sandwich method isn’t quite as beneficial. I do like the sandwich method though where longevity is a factor, like for brunch events and summertime events. Father’s Day is both of those 🙁
CNC friendly?
Since I made this piece almost completely on my CNC, I’d say it’s CNC-friendly. Like I said before, I used the sandwich method that I’ve been working on perfecting lately, so all the detail is inside the sculpture. That makes for a long lasting piece, which is perfect for the Deep South, where it’s hot 🥵 around Father’s Day.
In one of the pics that I got of this sculpture, you can see that the ice is suffering a bit from the long delivery drive to the venue; it had started to warm up on the trip. This is something that customers will rarely notice, but that I’m always conscious of. However, with the sandwich method, the sculpture’s detail will hang around, maybe all the way until the end of Father’s Day 🙂
about my dads
I already mentioned one sentimental reason for posting this design. But I can’t really do a #1 DAD ice sculpture design post without mentioning my own dad and stepdad. If I did, that would be skipping the whole point of Father’s Day if you ask me.
My dad is gone now, but he was like most dads: most of what he did was related to making sure that my siblings and I had the best life he could give us. Also, although he was initially skeptical, he supported my bizarre choice to take on an ice sculpting career. After I’d gotten my degree in a completely unrelated field, I decided that ice sculpting was the job for me. To his credit, my dad didn’t have me checked for brain damage and went along for the ride 🤣
My parents divorced when I was about to hit adolescence. This wasn’t all bad news though, because my siblings and I eventually got a couple of really awesome stepparents in the deal. Having been a stepparent myself in the past, I know it’s a tough job, and sometimes a thankless one. But I had a really great stepdad. He’s gone now too, but I think about him a lot and obviously even more on Father’s Day.
I was lucky. I had a #1 Dad AND a #1 Stepdad. This ice sculpture design is for both of them, for what they taught me and what they meant to me. I miss them both!
links and stuff
Sometimes it’s tough to come up with ice sculpture designs for Father’s Day. (Plus Dad gets a bit hosed on Father’s Day anyway, at least compared to Mother’s Day.) But I’ve done the best I can with my Father’s Day design compilation. If I’m not too lazy a bit later, I might even add this design to the compilation.
Check out the design page for many more ice sculpture designs. Also, check out the design usage guidelines to see what uses are permitted.
You could also find photos and info from this entry on the ice sculpting secrets Instagram account or the facebook page. ice sculpting secrets is also on TikTok (sort of, so far, lol), although videos there aren’t really tied to posts as much. You can comment on IG and fb as well as below. And if it won’t LET you comment below, then definitely comment on fb and/or IG. Thanks!
