I have a client who regularly challenges me to come up with new designs and new versions of designs that I’ve done before. In this case, he asked for an elegant and unusual ice bowl that he could fill with frozen ice cream treats at a birthday party. This beaded bowl was the result.

    The design makes extensive use of the specialty die grinder bit from Steve Brice called a “bubble bit.” This bit does just what it sounds like it does: it makes little bubbles on the ice.

   Unfortunately, it’s tough to make effective templates for a piece such as a bowl. In this case, the best option is to make two templates, one for the top side of the bowl (on the left, below) and another for the bottom of the bowl (on the right). These two templates, each measuring 20”x20”, are lined up and applied to either side of a 20”x20”x10” piece of ice

  Based on the templates and the overall design, you should try and replicate the piece shown in the photo below. Once you’ve made the outside of the bowl as smooth and as symmetrical as you can, the “bubbles” are applied to the areas between the ridges while the bowl is upsidedown. Depending on the size of bubble bit that you use, you may find that bits of ice stick up between the bubbles. These can be removed with a small chisel (usually, the smaller, the better).

    At some point, perhaps just before the bubbles are added, the bowl must be hollowed out so that it will hold something. Try to make the inside surface of the bowl smooth and uniform. A Junichi saw is very helpful at the end of this step. By the way, it’s important to know what will eventually go in the bowl. If it’s punch, then the bowl needs to be treated like a food product or be fitted with a plastic liner. If it’s going to hold something like wrapped frozen ice cream treats, then it’s not necessary to use a liner. It is, however, then necessary to cut a hole in the bottom so that the meltwater can get out. Otherwise, you’ll end up with semi-frozen ice cream treat soup.

    After the bubbles have been added and the bowl cleaned up, the last major step is to add a small base to give the bowl a little more height and stability. A piece of ice approximately 12”x12”x2.5 inches will do nicely. And finally, after the bowl was attached to its base, I added some short v-cuts to the lower part of the bowl’s rim. I did this partly to add some detail to an area that I though was lacking and partly to hide some mistakes that I’d made while carving.

   If you have any questions about this piece, just leave a comment below. If you would like to use this design or any other design on this site, please check the design usage guidelines. The design collection page lists designs on the site.