Opsanus Output

[Opsa]

I wanted to make some Darlica-style ice candle holders last night, since we were having arctic conditions. I remembered that Aggie had thought of filling balloons with water to make round shapes, but looking around, I was fresh out of balloons, so I used a pair of rubber gloves.

Below is how they looked this morning. They are so solid that there's no place for a candle (except maybe between the fingers?) but they are interesting.

The second photo shows icy outlines of where the gloves may have leaked a little before they froze. I thought it made a neat shot. This was supposed to be a tribute to Pieces.

Cool!  
You can make more of them, put them upright in a circle and light a candle in the middle.

Ooh! Neat idea! It's a challenge to keep these upright, since they are rounded at the bottom where I tied the rubber glove shut. One will stand, but the other will not. It would work in snow, though- and would probably look fascinating!

[Opsa]

Here's another thing- I bought some Japanese rice paper and water-colors and have been trying to get acquainted with them. I don't know what I'm doing, but this little image came out of yesterday's session. I think it is Pieces, dancing away from us now.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Gorgeous.

_{(and that's when you don't know what you're doing!)}

[Opsa]

Thank you, Zone.

We just put a lit candle between the fingers of the lying-down hand and put the standing one in front. Wonderful, how the ice captures the light.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

That is too cool!

Ice is really-really easy to shape, too.  Do you have an ordinary soldering iron?  You can use that to melt holes into ice very easily, and with pretty good precision too.

To flatten the bottom?  You can take your ice creation outside where there's some concrete, and holding it carefully in a gloved hand (to avoid melting it) you can easily rub a flat spot, using the concrete as "sandpaper".  It doesn't take much at all.

To melt a hole?  You could easily heat up something cylindrical on your stove-- then holding it with a pair of pliers, use that to melt a hole for your candle.  I'm thinking an old thimble would work (you'll burn the metal, so use one you don't minding ruining) to make a candle-hole.

Another tool would be a short piece of copper tubing, again held with pliers and heated up with a stove/torch.  If the tube is small, a candle would work too.

Edit: 

If you really want to get into ice carving?  Buy a heavy duty soldering iron-- one of those that has a copper loop for the heating bit (it clamps into the end with screws).  These are very simple machines-- they take 120v mains and convert it to about 1 or 2 volts at high amps--running that through the copper tip. 

But here's the thing:  you can custom make your own tips, using 10 gauge uninsulated solid copper wire (available at home centers in the electrical department).  You can use 12 gauge too, but these tend to get too hot and burn out quickly.   For lower temperatures, use 8 gauge.  You only need a foot or so, so it's cheap.  Take your iron with you, to make sure it's holders have big enough holes for the wire you choose-- some of the smaller ones only take 10 gauge or less (12, 14 or 16--the higher the gauge, the smaller the diameter). 

Anyway, you can easily bend the wire into loops, or v-notches, or whatever you like.  If you place a length on an anvil, you can hammer it flat, to make knife-shapes too.  Hint:  shape it into a very tight loop--pinch it tight, then hammer it flat.  Copper is very malleable, and easily shaped.

Enjoy!

[Opsa]

That sounds like fun!

[Opsa]

Cool! 
You can make more of them, put them upright in a circle and light a candle in the middle.

Th'Opsalette made four more last night, and we have arranged them in a circle. It's better than any snowman!

[Darlica]

Nice!
I like the photo with the long shadows.

I prefer to work with hacksaw, drills and knifes when carving ice, I find the combination of electricity and water a little too adventurous for my taste...

A blow-dryer might come in handy to help the ice to release the moulds though.

[roystonoboogie]

I find the combination of electricity and water a little too adventurous for my taste...

A blow-dryer might come in handy to help the ice to release the moulds though.

Use a residual current device (RCD). It protects you from any water / electricity interface issues. I play outdoor gigs with a valve (tube) amplifier that generates 600 volts at the anodes. I have thought about this stuff...

Linky.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

One of the nicer aspects of that venerable soldering iron?  The volts to the heating element are about 1 or 3 or so-- well below any dangerous levels.  It's quite safe enough, if the outlet it's plugged into is away from the wet stuff.

[Bluenose]

An alternative, at least for smaller jobs, would be a butane powered soldering iron.  These days that's about the only one I use, albeit for electronic work, because of its portability and independence from the mains power.

[Opsa]

Below are some shots from last night.

This has become a therapeutic art project.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Verra nice!

[Opsa]

Thankee!

Wouldn't they be cool made HUJE with a BONFIRE in the middle?

[Opsa]

Today they are melting.

I feel like this is a project is a metaphor for the survivors of a death. The person is missed. The mourners form a circle. Time goes by and slowly they are lessened. A couple more fall. Eventually they will all return to the earth.