Cast an 'entangled Rings' Ice Sculpture

This simple but elegant design is made with a relatively easy method. This sculpture is not carved but cast. I used plastic sheeting, scissors, tape and glue to make the mold.

We are going to make two entangled rings with two entangled molds. Casting with fully enclosed molds is tricky because freezing water expands, therefore we'll use molds that are open on the top, that's easier. The top picture illustrates the idea for mold #1. The arrows indicate where the water goes. Mold #2 will 'embrace' mold #1, as shown in the bottom picture.     

Stuff you need

- Polyester sheet .5 mm, or any plastic sheet thin enough to cut with scissors but strong enough to maintain its shape when filled with water.
- Glue gun
- Tape
- Scissors
- Permanent marker
- A drafting compass or something circular that has the right size for drawing a circle (I used plates and bowls) 
- Freezer
- Water (for CLEAR ice, see this instructable )
- A container to put the molds in just in case the mold starts leaking while freezing
- Some items (cups, containers, wood blocks) to keep the mold upright while it freezes. 

Cut the following

two pieces of 2" by 25" (outer circumference )
two pieces of 2" by 16.6" (inner circumference )
two pieces of 10" by 10" (bottom panel )
two pieces of 1"x 2" (reinforcement)

Make a big cylinder and a small cylinder by taking 2 inch wide strip and taping the ends together (top picture). Make sure it's a good circle. Tape a piece of plastic on the connection to reinforce it if neccesary.

Glue the small cylinder on the base plate. Some tape will help to temporarily hold it in place. When glue has hardened, remove the tape and add glue to seal it all around.

Glue the big cylinder to the base plate. The bottom picture shows what it should look like. 

At this point it can be a good idea to test if the mold is water tight by pouring some water into it. 

The second mold is made just like the first one, except that you'll have to cut the base plate to be able to link it with the other one, and then mount the rings on it. I also cut a corner off the base plate so I could more easily move it. 

Test if your molds are water tight before putting them in the freezer. I used small empty cups and containers to support the molds so one would remain horizontal. Keep the molds in a container just in case the mold starts leaking during the freezing process. Tip: Fill and freeze in stages if you have the time. Water freezes on the top first and it expands. If you fill the whole thing at once the ice at the bottom will push up against ice on the surface which can give a very uneven surface.  

Once mold #1 has frozen you rotate them in such a way that the empty one lies flat and the frozen one is it on its side.  Fill it with water and let it freeze. 

Once mold #2 is frozen, take off all the mold material. You will have to make a cut in the base plate of mold #1 to get it off. To re-use you can remove the glue residue and glue it back together.   

Tips

1. As mentioned already: clear ice looks better
2. Put the sculpture on black sandpaper or have some other solution against sliding. In the picture here it was on plexiglas and it was so slidy that the wind blew it off. 
3. Put a light underneath, that can really make it pop!