Tetris Ice Cubes

by Tetranitrate

229K482228

Intro: Tetris Ice Cubes

Make your own tetris block silicone ice cube tray.
The mold created in this project can be used for much more than just ice cubes- try making Jello tetris pieces, or tetris soap, tetris Popsicles, or even tetris ground beef squares!

Mmmmm ... ground beef squares

STEP 1: Materials

The materials and design for this project are somewhat flexible. The idea is to create many different 1" cubes, and piece them together in the form of the tetris pieces. The tetris pieces are then assembled on a board, creating a positive for liquid silicone to be poured on.

1. 1" thick wood (or any other solid material you have the ability to make the cubes out of; ie acrylic or metal can also be used)
2. Saw
3. Ruler
4. Sander
5. Wood glue
6. Molding Silicone
7. Hot glue gun
8. Exacto knife

STEP 2: Making the Blocks

A quick Google image search for "tetris solved" returns the block layout shown below. This design (or any other design where the tetris pieces fit perfectly together) will return the maximum amount of tetris pieces with minimum space wasted. As you can see from this design (5 blocks x 8 blocks) 40 wooden cubes will be needed.

Making the cubes:

1. Cut the 1" thick board into 1" wide strips. Further cut these strips into the 1" cubes necessary. A table saw and chop saw make creating the cubes much easier. I recommend making a few more cubes than necessary to have extra (just in case).

2. To form the "classic" tetris block shape we will sand off the corners of each of the cubes 1/8".

STEP 3: Making the Tetris Pieces

The design that we are using requires two "I" pieces, one "J" piece, one "L" piece, two "O" pieces, one "S" piece, two "T" pieces, and one "Z" piece. If you do not know what I am talking about Wikipedia has a very nice page explaining everything you would ever care to know about tetris. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris

1. Layout and glue the pieces together using wood glue.

STEP 4: Making the Positive

The walls of the positive should be made from a nonporous material as to not stick to the silicone once it has dried. I recommend acrylic for this step, but really any nonporous material should work (glass, metal, etc.)

Once the positive housing is made, glue the tetris blocks to the bottom using a hot glue gun.

To prevent the silicone from sticking to the wooden blocks coat each of them in olive oil, or a non-sticking substance specifically designed for your exact type of silicone.

STEP 5: Pouring the Silicone

Mix the silicone according to the directions provided. Pay careful attention to whether it asks to measure by weight or volume.

Pour the silicone mix over the wooden blocks, filling the housing to the rim.

Let set according to the directions provided (usually it will be at least 10 hours).

STEP 6: Removing the Negative

To remove the negative from the holder:

Using a sharp knife, cut around the sides between the housing and the silicone.

If possible break away the sides of the housing (it will make removing the bottom much easier).

Pry the bottom of the housing off of the silicone. Because of the undercuts on the blocks, the tetris pieces will probably remain trapped in the silicone.

To remove the blocks from the silicone:

Using an exacto knife cut away the silicone trapping the blocks in the negative. Once enough silicone is removed flex the mold a bit, and you should be able to peel out the wooden tetris pieces.

STEP 7: Making the Ice Cubes

To make clear tetris ice cubes just add water to the mold and freeze.

To make colored tetris cubes, first look up which game color scheme you would like to use from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris

Next mix food coloring and water to best try and match those colors.

Pour the colored water into the mold and let sit until frozen (5-6 hours).

232 Comments

Pineboy 7 years ago

Nice! This is a really cool idea

Erchan 9 years ago

is it possible to produce fruit flavored ice cubes?

cmedina7 11 years ago

very nice for a party, =)

HoshizakiIce 12 years ago

Why didn't we think of that. http://www.hoshizakiice.com/Home_Page.html

SHIFT! 13 years ago

Hey Tetrinate!

Just wanted to say this build is completely amazing and the results I had with my own Tetris Ice cubes were amazing! Thank you also for inspiring me to create my own Video Game ice casts instructable : https://www.instructables.com/id/FREE-Z-or-How-to-make-VG-Ice-Casts-from-Papercraft/

You Rule!

vt13013 16 years ago

Did you tap or vibrate the mold to make sure you didn't have any air bubbles? I noticed a few on the pour images.

Tetranitrate 16 years ago

I tapped it a few times to get rid of as many bubbles as I could.

neckrochylde9 14 years ago

Mixing the silicone very slowly will also help with air bubbles, check the cure time of your rubber first though, most have more than enough time to be patient when mixing. Ideally you would make a vacuum chamber and vacuum the rubber before pouring it. but be sure not to fill your container more than 2 thirds or less or you'll end up with silicone all over your vac chamber! gooey mess!

Void Schism 13 years ago

it also helps to use an old brush to paint a layer of silicone over the surfaces, especially where there are overhangs, before pouring the rest

coppeis 13 years ago

Where could I get the silicone and the positive? Also does it have to be food grade?

P.S. I live in the NYC aria and would prefer not to buy it only line any suggestions?

neffk 13 years ago

I was reading about silicon the other day and noticed that there are several kinds. They differ in the curing agent, which can be platnium or peroxide. Platnuim is safe for projects in which the silicone cures against skin. Not the same as food grade, but related.

Dr. dB 13 years ago

Good Instructable, coherently presented and well photgraphed! I may have to try this, as my wife is an avid (or would that be "rabid"?) Tetris player. I have to keep an NES001 alive and operating on each of our main TVs so she can "satisfy the urge" whenever it strikes... (Plus, the "XBoxed" grandkids are hooked on some of those "quaint, antique" games, too!) Definitely should WASH THE MOLD THOROUGHLY a couple of times, before using, to ensure complete removal of any remaining "release compound". None of them would be very tasty, and some of the "commercial" products are rather toxic... For folks going with wood as their "positive" medium, I would suggest starting with a 1" square moulding strip - might cost a little more but reduces cuts considerably. A hunk of angle iron or a pair of straight 2x4s nailed into a "V" would make a handy "alignment jig" for glueing the shapes. Perhaps a shallow cardboard tray lined with that "release"-type aluminum foil for an expendable mold housing? Hot glue should stick well enough but silicone ought to "peel out" fairly well. Plus, if the hot-gluing is done carefully enough, maybe with some cotton swabs for "dressing-in" the excess around edges, the shapes should "pop" out from behind without much hassle, once the facing foil is removed. (You might even get to keep the undercuts, although the expansion of the water as it freezes might not allow that to work....) This would also make interesting candles, and those needn't be limited to 1" cubes since they wouldn't have to fit a glass...!

mikoto 14 years ago

Oh my goodness, Now I want to play with silicone.

Dr. dB 13 years ago

hmm... I had that same thought a couple of times while Pam Anderson was "Dancing With The Stars"....
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