Whisky stones

[Vic No.141989]

http://www.thinkgeek*com/caffeine/accessories/ba37/
These soap stone cubes are have been a bit beyond my financial reach for awhile, but I am hoping someone here could give me some guidance on making a few myself.

[Anonymous No.141994]

>buy ice cube tray
>add water
>add to freezer

if you cant afford a few stones then you need to get a job. making these will cost more than buying them, in both time and money.

[Anonymous No.141995]

>use ice cubes
>drink that tiny puddle of whiskey before the ice is completely molten
It's not that hard. Also I personally think you could just as well use deep frozen marbles to cool it. The whole soap stone thing seems to be nothing more than a gimmick.

[Anonymous No.141996]

1. go outside
2. get rockz
3. clen rockz
4. put rockz in frezer
5. Enjuy!

[Anonymous No.142000]

>>141989
$20 is out of your financial reach? Go get a 1 day a week job at McDonalds and you can quit after your first paycheck.

Bam whisky rocks.

Or just be a man and drink it without ice.

[Anonymous No.142002]

>>141994
Fucking buyfags.

>>141989
If you need them perfectly square, this won't help, but if you want ice cold soapstone to put in your drink then this is the cheap way to do it. Go to a hardware store that has lots of welding supplies. Buy the soapstone they use to mark on metal with. It feels really slippery and is white. You can buy a box or just a few. It's usually pretty cheap. Dimensions vary, but are close to, 5in.X 1/2in.X 3/16in

[Anonymous No.142001]

>spending $20 on rocks
please don't do this

[Anonymous No.142004]

>>142001

[Anonymous No.142006]

>>142002
>Fucking buyfags
>HEY EVERYONE LETS REINVENT THE WHEEL AT 5 TIMES THE COST BECAUSE LOL FUN XD

your one of those hipster kids who likes to diy to make yourself seem different and obscure. real men realize that some things you need to buy and not worth making.

[Anonymous No.142007]

>>142002
>fucking buyfags
>go to hardware store and buy these

HAHAHAHAH TYPICAL RETARDED KID

[Pinzfag !10PINZ710. No.142011]

>>142007
Good ole kidfag. Diy would be in a better place without you, but its okay ever board needs a faggot.

[Anonymous No.142012]

>>142007
You can't use them as-is. You need to cut them down to size. you are buying the raw material to make what the OP wants. Unlike you who wants the OP to not make anything and simply buy them or forget it.

You are a troll.

[Anonymous No.142015]

>>142011
>thinking that just one person on this entire site says kid

i bet you think that its only 1 person that says u mad or calls people a troll to, dont you kid?

[Anonymous No.142016]

>>142011
Including you we have 2!!!

[Anonymous No.142018]

>>142012
>you have to modify them
>doesnt count as buying them though

you past first grade or what kid?

[Anonymous No.142020]

Just use ice, this shit's a gimmick and isn't even worth your time and money making a set of your own.

[Anonymous No.142019]

>putting rocks in your whiskey

Or you could just like, you know, drink it neat like a normal human being. Or like, you know, put it in the fridge or freezer for a while like a frat boy.

also
>/ck/ represent

[Anonymous No.142021]

buying materials from a hardware store is buyfagging now?

I hope you guys all cut down your own trees, forge your own tools and nails from metal your mined yourself then!

[Anonymous No.142024]

>>142021
>I hope you guys all cut down your own trees, forge your own tools and nails from metal your mined yourself then!

I'm trying to! But, yeah, this jerk is just a typical buyfag troll. Oh, another good source of soapstone are cut offs and end peices from places that make stone kitchen counters.

[Anonymous No.142027]

>Whisky stones

Are they... are they basically just rocks carved into small cubes, then made cold by putting them into a freezer?

I have never seen anything like this before, and it seems like a dumb gimmick.

...If you WANT to make them still, then I guess get a few big rocks and carve them down into cubes. Maybe polish them for shits and giggles, then freeze them.

[Anonymous No.142033]

An alternative would be to melt down some aluminum (or copper if you want to get sick) and make them into cubes. I would imagine they would be better at staying cold longer than soapstone.
It's pretty much the same shit they sell at Brookstone, except those are made of stainless steel I think, which is a lot safer.

[Anonymous No.142034]

>>142027
Pretty much yes. They keep the whiskey from being watered down.

>>142033
>aluminum
>in something acidic
>to drink

NOPE.jpg They line aluminum beer and soda cans with a protective film for a reason.

[Pinzfag !10PINZ710. No.142039]

>>142034
Same reason they stopped using copper tubing in soda machines, and the same reason you should never attach ground leads to copper piping you intend to drink out of.
Heavy metals poisoning is not fun...

[Anonymous No.142041]

>>142033

>stainless steel

They'd look great in a good gin & tonic, having some of them...

[Anonymous No.142042]

i got my set on 1saleaday for $6.

[Anonymous No.142052]

>>142039
True.

A friend of mine was house sitting some supposedly million dollar home. It has all copper pipes. ALL COPPER PIPES, including the sewer pipes, hurrrr. Anyway, the water taste like pure copper.

[Anonymous No.142056]

wait how the fuck do you get heavy metal poisoning from copper?

[Anonymous No.142065]

>>142056
You get copper toxicity. You actually cough up blood and your shit turns into tarry blackness.

[Anonymous No.142068]

>>142056

Cooper is toxic in > trace amounts.

[Anonymous No.142070]

>>142056
yea copper actually used to be used a lot in hospitals and shit for beds and door knobs and such because it is naturally antibacterial or some bullshit idk I heard it on NPR one day

[Anonymous No.142209]

OP, http://1saleaday.com/family/
they're like... $11 today.

[Anonymous No.142233]

>>142007

If you wish to make a whiskey stone from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

[Anonymous No.142278]

Guys just be aware that these ideas are all fail compared to regular ice cubes.

The reason regular ice cubes work so well is because they absorb a massive amount of energy when they melt, the enthalpy of fusion for water is huge; 334 kJ/kg. Compare this to the specific heats of metals; beryllium for example which has one of the highest at 1.83 kJ/kg-K, over a temperature change of say 45 degrees going from the freezer to your room temperature drink.... that's a total possible energy absorption of 82.35 kJ/kg...................

That's not even considering that the entire block would have to reach room temperature, meaning that your drink would still be warm.

And don't forget that the enthalpy of fusion for ice isn't the only energy absorbing it does, first it has to go from -20C to 0 degrees then the liquid water goes from 0 to the temperature of your cold drink. Even the specific heat of water is 4 times greater than almost all metals.

For any of this to make sense at all, you'd need to use a metal that's like 16 times the density of ice to match it's ability to absorb energy for the same volume of space..... that leaves a handful of the most expensive metals on earth including gold, platinum, osmium and iridium.

[Pinzfag !10PINZ710. No.142283]

>>142233
/debate

[Anonymous No.142288]

>>142278
thx man, im absorbing. just a random watcher.

[Anonymous No.142307]

I had a thought about reinventing the wheel on this a bit (and I hate the fucking bashing in this thread). If you're going to make them, OP, why not make them better?

Some of you guys who aren't dipshits help me spitball this.

Rocks or stone, I would imagine, wouldn't be much better or worse of a conductor than metal or something, no? But I imagine they're full of a lot more air than, say, a solid steel cube or something.

Does that air trapped inside help the whiskey stones stay cooler longer? Or would something solid that is a poor conductor (like ceramic or something maybe?) be better?

Let's come up with a better media for the stones. It seems like soap stone is just being used out of convenience.

[batman No.142312]

>>141989
>2102
> not using a liquid nitrogen cooling system for your refreshments..

[Anonymous No.142315]

keep your whiskey in the fridge

/solved

[Anonymous No.142319]

>>142068
>>142070
Water pipes in homes are made out of copper you dipshits it's perfectly safe

[Anonymous No.142325]

>>142307
>would something solid that is a poor conductor be better?

Please explain why you think that something that is a POOR conductor would be good for changing the temperature of a beverage

[Anonymous No.142331]

>>142307

Moot point man. I understand we want a better, less watery approach to cooling a drinking, but it's for one drink. The higher the density, the longer it takes to cool. Plus it will hit room temp faster because "blah blah surface area blah blah".

I know we all want this to be cool, but it's not. Go invest some time in making an ice ball press. Much cooler and imo more dignified looking.

[Anonymous No.142340]

Why not just keep your whiskey glasses in the freezer?

Or just use ice-blocks. The water helps bring out the aromas anyways in small amounts.

Or, just keep the whiskey in the fridge? I've done all these things and they work fine.

Also; What do you fellas like to drink?

Cheaptier: 'Four Roses' that I got in Japan for $2 a bottle.
Favoritertier: Wild Turkey that's 24 years+

Yeah, I'm a simple man.

[Anonymous No.142341]

Whiskey stones are worthless.

Ice's cooling properties come mainly from the fact it melts, not because it's a cold solid.

In order for water to go from 0C to 40C it takes (4.18 J/C * 40C) = 167 Joules of heat per gram.

In order for ice to go from 0C to 0C water (melting) it takes 334 Joules of heat per gram.

Soapstone has a specific heat of .98 Joules per gram per Kelvin.

So it takes 12.78 times more mass in rocks than ice to cool your drink down to approximately the same level (assuming vol_drink >> vol_ice).

[Anonymous No.142343]

>>142340
>four roses
>$2
>mfw
That must be a typo...

I payed $40 at my local liquor store when I purchased one...

[Anonymous No.142370]

>>142341

Well, you could always cool the stones with liquid nitrogen.

This thread is now about air liquefiers.

[Anonymous No.142377]

One problem with using stone and stainless steel: They sink.
Correct me if I'm wrong here because I don't drink, but the ice floats and cools the top, which then sinks because it's now denser and lighter liquid replaces it to be cooled and sunk. This makes the whole drink cool faster and more consistently.
By the way, don't use aluminium. You will get poisoned.

[Anonymous No.142384]

>>142033
>aluminum

Enjoy your alzheimers.

[Anonymous No.142385]

>>142377

The cold fluid at the bottom of the glass is what will run along the surface to your mouth anyway.

Marine-grade stainless steel should withstand whatever drinks you pour on it.

[Anonymous No.142388]

>>142307
Alrighty then. This is now an invention thread.
First off, is the reason for ice to cool your whiskey or too keep it cool for the ammount of time you expect to be drinking it?

[Anonymous No.142390]

>>141989

nerds. everywhere. Jesus christ.

ice dilutes the scotch and cools it past maximum taste...tastiness.

also, ignore hundreds of years of using water to break up and release some of the esters lurking in it...

but anyway, stones apparently don't transfer as much temp change to the scotch. that's why they use em.

could you get your own close grain soapstone from most reputable art stores? maybe.

is it worth doing all this shit for 10.00 scotch? I dunno.

[Anonymous No.142397]

I thought aluminum was classified as a heavy metal now xd

[Anonymous No.142400]

>>142343
Japan, man.

Seriously, grog is fucked up cheap there compared to Australia.

$40 is way to much buddy!

$2 it was.

[Anonymous No.142599]

>>142341
Now I want gold ice cubes. Or use gold coins. Shit.

[Anonymous No.142613]

I store my hooch in the freezer.

PRUBLUM SOLVD

[Anonymous No.142621]

I gotta chip in after reading all this stuff.

I'm a Scotfag and I have stones. Anyone know where the saying 'On the rocks' comes from?

The stones are shit tbh - they don't work too great at all.

But I use them instead of ice for obvious (to anyone who knows whiskey) reasons.

I put a glass in the freezer, use that while another is in the freezewr. Rinse, repeat.
>Cheapest solution.
>Works.
>Fall over drunk.
feelsgoodman.jpg

[Anonymous No.142688]

not even going to read the buyfag vs diyfag battle above me, go to some art supply store, but a nice piece of soapstone, saw cubes, polish with sandpaper, rinse, freeze, enjoy

a piece about 2 fists big shouldn't cost more than 3-4 euro

[Anonymous No.142690]

I found this thread intensely interesting then disappointing.

Even those ice balls are not so practical and way too expensive.

[Scotchy McScotchscotch No.142695]

By all means, the smaller whiskey stones are shitty, and if you believe that they're worth the 25-35 bucks, your best bet are the larger Whiskey Disks. They're totally non-toxic, hold the cold for a long, long, time, and actually do what they're supposed to do, I shit you not. We have a group that spends a good amount of cash on expensive single malts, and the stones make a huge difference to a discerning palate. You can get them at http://whiskeydisks.com and they may be other places as well. Haters can hate on the idea, but they do work.

[Anonymous No.142699]

I have a question, /diy/: could you do this same concept with aerogel? It's a great insulator, so it stays cold once it gets cold, right? Is it poisonous, so that it wouldn't work?

[Anonymous No.142703]

Can't you get plastic "ice cubes" that are full of liquid and freeze those?

[Anonymous No.142704]

>>142703
But then how would all these pretentious drunks feel classy?

[Anonymous No.142724]

>>142278

This. I knew all of this, in a general sense, but couldn't be bothered looking up the numbers. The energy absorbed during a state change is huge compared to the energy absorbed in simply increasing the physical temperature of a substance.

I've used whiskey stones, and they really don't do shit, because they can't absorb nearly enough energy to significantly cool your drink. They do look neat though.

>>142703

This guy has the right idea. Think ice pack in miniature form. Also the dude who suggested putting your glass in the freezer beforehand. You don't benefit from the enthalpy of fusion of water in that case, but the glass is a really big whiskey stone that will take longer to heat up simply because of its mass.

[Anonymous No.142726]

>>142699
the problem with using aerogel as an icecube is exactly this :p
it's a great insulator so it will still be cold after you have finished your drink.

[Anonymous No.142733]

>>142726
So it is poisonous, then? Could you put a thin coating of something non-reactive around it? Like, encase it in stainless steel so the heat transfer could still take place, but it wouldn't be toxic and wouldn't flavor your drink?

[Pinzfag !10PINZ710. No.142734]

>>142726
Hnnnnng
physics how do they work.

[Anonymous No.142747]

>>142733

Insulators don't readily transfer heat (and therefore 'cold'). It would make a poor ice cube, regardless of toxicity.

It would still be cold at the end of the drink because it would fail to absorb heat from the drink (which would be room temperature the whole time).

[Anonymous No.142749]

aerogel is mostly made of air which has very little heat capacity and hence wouldn't cool your shitty drink

[Anonymous No.142753]

Ice cubes are bad enough - it would seem like these rocks - would break a tooth or split a lip if tipped.

[Anonymous No.142754]

Ceramic is a great insulator for electric and a good expander of heat. So if you had that to freeze, the warmth in your drink would transfer quickly to the ceramic.

[Anonymous No.142761]

Is putting the glass in the freezer before adding the whiskey an option?

[Anonymous No.142762]

>>142761
Yes, but if you are hosting a party or something you may not have enough room to do that. Plus, getting seconds will have the glass warmed up by the that time. If you had a bunch of cubes then there's less of a space issue.

[Anonymous No.142776]

>>142233

this

[**ziff No.143126]

>>141989
Just buy a diamond file or a few riflers. You can get soapstone pretty cheap. Most places will insist though that you buy a certain poundage of stone. Usually 40 lbs is a standard minimum order. You could easily make 30 of these in an after noon.

1. Buy the stone and tools.
2. Make them
3. Put them on etsy
4. ????
5. PROFIT!!

[Anonymous No.143204]

the heat capacity of these stones is shit compared to water. The best combo would be stainless steel filled with water.

[Anonymous No.143227]

If the whiskey you're drinking is good enough tasting to not drink it in shots then getting a little water in it shouldn't be a problem. A lot of people add water to more expensive whiskeys because they enjoy the flavor. If it's shit whiskey then just drink it out of a shot glass.

[Anonymous No.143268]

>>142621
>I'm a Scotfag and I have stones. Anyone know where the saying 'On the rocks' comes from?
Best guess, America.
best stab at the etymology
- crushed ice looks a bit like diamonds
- slang/gangster term for diamonds, rocks
- You do the rest...
phrase apparently originated in the '40s.
>I'm a Scotfag
>But I use them instead of ice for obvious (to anyone who knows whiskey) reasons.
>anyone who knows whiskey
>Scotfag
>whiskey
Hmmmmm, something not quite right here

>>142695
>Scotchy McScotchscotch
>By all means, the smaller whiskey stones are shitty
> larger Whiskey Disks.
>whiskey
>Whiskey
>Scotchy McScotchscotch
>Scotch* **Scotchscotch
>whiskey
Oh, here we go again...
(ok, I know you're probably talking about the marketing name of the stones, but still...)

[Anonymous No.143285]

>ice is free
>accidentally drop heavy cubes into glass a little too forcefully, you now have no glass
>soapstone is pretty soft, enjoy the grit in your drink from the cubes knocking against each other

Sounds like a great idea

[Anonymous No.143291]

>>142695
lol. if you buy enouhg, you could get a case of whiskydisk.

[Anonymous No.143348]

>>143268
>Best guess, America.
>best stab at the etymology
>- crushed ice looks a bit like diamonds
>- slang/gangster term for diamonds, rocks
>- You do the rest...
>phrase apparently originated in the '40s

Nope. It was pebbles taken from mountain streams (before plumbed in water) which were cold from the water, places in the glass and the drink pored over it.

[Anonymous No.143569]

>>143348
Sounds like a load of bullshit to me, but seeing as how in my painstaking /minutes/ of research I have yet to find a definitive answer either way...
>shrug

[Anonymous No.143574]

Anybody figure out a way to grind them into little spheres?

[Anonymous No.143579]

Don't know if it has been said but :
>Put ice cubes in plastic foil
>Put it in whisky
>???
>Profit

[eNon No.143591]

>>143574
Putting small stones in a rock tumbler will round them off. If you start with perfect cubes, they will (eventually) come out as spheres.

@ OP; Theses "ice rocks" might be a good conversation piece, but I can't help but thing they'd chip your teeth if you're not careful.

[Anonymous No.143613]

>Lets put rocks and metal cubes in our drinks so that they slide forward in the glass when you drink and smash your fucking teeth in.

Best idea ever

[Anonymous No.143708]

>>143348
>Nope. It was pebbles taken from mountain streams (before plumbed in water) which were cold from the water, places in the glass and the drink pored over it.

Oh please, tell me you're trying to troll...
If not, please point me to your reference for this gem, I want to see what other crackers there are lurking there..any good 'hunting the wild haggis' stories?
(NB: Tourist guide to Brigadoon is *not* an authoritative nor acceptable reference)

[Anonymous No.143718]

>>143591
>had a rock tumbler as a kid
>took motor off and turned it into a wood lathe for use with my Dremel
>made a chess set freehanded
>still have it
>just found that motor yesterday, it still has the base of the last chess piece I made duct-taped to it
>it still runs well
>see this thread
>see your pic
>same exact red motor
>nostalgia everywhere

I second this. Although, you'll need some seriously big grit to start out with otherwise it'll take WEEKS.

[Anonymous No.144079]

Wait a minute here. Couldnt you just have a glass fill it with ice, and put a smaller glass in it? Wouldnt that be the cheapest solution?

That way coldness of ice would be transferred through the glass, but wont mix with the whiskey diluting it with water.

[Anonymous No.144094]

>>142307
Fill cubes with w/e the fuck as highest heat capacity
Finish 'em nice and tidy
???
Profit
l2 heat capacity, go to school

[Anonymous No.144096]

>>143613
Implying you tilt your glass more than 170 degrees unless you're retarded

[Anonymous No.144105]

>>144096
It's called a straw, fucker.

[Anonymous No.144123]

I don't find this practical. You can really damage your theet using stone or metal or choke on them if they are to small.

[Anonymous No.144124]

>>143718
could you post your chess set? that sounds like a very classy project.

[Anonymous No.144147]

>>144123
>theet

[Anonymous No.144201]

>>144096

liquor is expensive, of course the glass gets tilted past 170 degrees.

[Anonymous No.144207]

>>141989
The keyword here is granite. Granite has a fairly high specific heat, meaning it'll keep shit cold.

So, go to your local hardware store and buy some granite tiles and rent a stone cutting machine, cut into cubes. Easy.

[Anonymous No.144234]

Drinking chilled whiskey? I bet you chill your German beer too.

[Anonymous No.144324]

ITT: morons who don't make frozen whisky cubes.

> How do I froze alcohol?

Lrn 2 liquid nitrogen you moron