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Fiore August 31, 2010 at 2:26 am

So far so good. Creates nice snow. If I could design this better i would allow for the tray to be removed easier. the back door is nice. also the drain does not fully drain the tray.

Kovacs August 31, 2010 at 1:43 pm

EDIT 07/23/09: Another month and another trade event. I made approximately 500-600 snow cones at this event and the machine performed perfectly without any problems at all. This machine is certainly well built and will serve you well. I can’t recommend this machine highly enough.

ORIGINAL REVIEW FOLLOWS:

I bought this unit for a three-day trade event and it performed perfectly. I easily made back the purchase price of the unit without issue, so the price point on this item is wonderful.

The motor is strong and it crushes ice quickly if left at the factory setting. I found that the ice is a bit coarse for some people as calibrated at the factory, so I adjusted the blades to produce a VERY fine snow. The finer snow absorbs the flavorings much better than coarse ice and has a more “Italian Ice” look to it.

The instruction manual for the unit does not tell you how to adjust the blades, so I will tell you now:

1. MAKE SURE THE UNIT IS UNPLUGGED!

2. Lay the unit on its side, with the door facing up.

3. Use the hex wrench that came with the machine to loosen the blade assembly set screws. This is done be reaching into the hole that the ice falls from when grinding, rotating the assembly, then finding the set screws. You will need to rotate the assembly again when the screws are loose or they will make contact when you try to remove the cutter assembly.

4. Push the cutter assembly off the shaft and into the ice chute. Be careful not to cut yourself on the sharp blades.

5. Use a flat-head screwdriver to loosen the two screws on each blade.

6. Move the blades IN to shave the ice finer or OUT for a course, crushed ice.

7. Tighten the screws and reassemble the unit.

You will need to experiment a bit to get the perfect shave/crush, but it is worth it.

Things to note:

The ice tray does not drain very well, so you might want to prop up the end opposite the drain in order to help water flow to the drain. I also backed the drain out until the plastic portion that goes into the pan was flush with the inside of the pan in order to help it drain better.

You WILL spill water all over the place when you try to clean the tray if you don’t use some towels to dry it before attempting to remove it, as you have to lean the tray considerably to get the drain to come out of the case. Another suggestion is to put a plug in the drain when you are removing the tray, otherwise water will certainly pour out if you don’t soak up water from it.

The motor seems to be very strong and I expect it to run for quite some time. I made hundreds of snow cones without any issues and the machine performed perfectly the whole time.

The product information doesn’t mention it, but there is a decal on the front of the unit that says “Sno-Cones.” The decal looks nice and helps advertise your product.

Overall, I would give this unit an 8.5 out of 10. Highly recommended.

Myers September 1, 2010 at 2:09 am

I use the molds. They create an ice block with an uneven surface at the bottom. That side of the ice block faces the motor, and thus the ice block gets gripped by the rotating motor and turned around to shave against the stationary blade, and voila you get shaved ice. Ice cubes don’t work as well because the machine can’t get a grip on them.
Use the molds to create ice blocks ahead of time and count 1 ice block per person so you’ll have enough.
Forget about the special cone-shaped cups to hold the snowball… I use a round plastic container that fits at the bottom of the snowball machine.
Simple enough and effective. My kids and their playdates love it. We use Torani fruit and rootbeer syrups. Yum.
Our snowball maker is now 4 years old. Of course it gets seasonal use.

Ibsen September 1, 2010 at 2:32 pm

My two girls and I have been using this ice shaver for a month now and have thoroughly enjoyed it! It is easy to use and quickly makes enough for the 3 of us to have snow cones. It says regular ice cubes work, and they do, but it does not work nearly as well as when you use the molds that come with it. We have started making them and storing them in bags while we make more so we never run out. Other than that, we have loved it.

Kenney September 2, 2010 at 2:38 am

the product was defective when i received it, so i give it one star. anyone could ocassionally get a defective product – then you find out about the company’s customer service: how does it handle returns and refunds. my process to obtain a complete refund including initial and return shipping is an example of exactly the reason a person would have second thoughts about buying anything on-line. my e-mail correspondence with antononline and amazon was extensive, and too much to recap here. i finally had to talk to an amazon person live to get full satisfaction. i received the defective product on june 28 and finally achieved satisfaction on july 20 after talking live to an amazon employee – far too much time. while i have generally been pleased with service from amazon, i probably will not purchase anything else from a non-amazon seller – i have had an unpleasant experience.

Mac September 2, 2010 at 2:24 pm

I love getting frozen margaritas and daiquiris at restaurants. However, when I bought the mix and attempted to make it with my blender I had no success (the recipes said blend with ice!!!) However, in the blender all my ice cubes did was bounce around – they did not crush! That’s when I started to investigate how I was supposed to get my ice the correct consistency/texture for the blender. And a lot of those machines are so expensive! I saw this product mentioned online, though, so for $30 I thought I’d give it a try.

The machine is very easy to use. Ice made with the 2 round forms that are included works best, but you can use regular ice cubes (but you can’t fill it up to high). To make it work you load the ice into the container with the blade in the bottom. That is inserted into and suspended by the pedestal base. The motor part that’s plugged into the wall is placed above that. You have to align it correctly because there’s a grove that has to line up with a ridge for it to work (it can take a few tries). Pushing the big blue button on top causes a metal plate to rock/spin and grind the ice against the blade and the resulting “snow” to fall into whatever container you have placed below.

I’ve noticed that some reviewers have complained about speed. I have no idea what they are talking about. Increasing the pressure you add while pushing the button (and pushing against the ice) will make it go slightly faster, but it goes fast enough on its own! I actually have a problem with my bowl/measuring cup filling up too quickly and overflowing!

Anyways, here’s how I make my drinks. I completely shave two of the circle blocks of ice and put them in the blender (this takes me maybe 1-2 minutes). It’s rather puffy and non-compressed (snow!) so it will fill up the entire container. Then I add two servings of the mix for whichever drink I’m making (and the alcohol if it is requested). Everything becomes a bit more compressed and I stir it a bit in the blender with the spoon so make sure the blades of the blender are free. Then I just let the blender run for a little while (mine has a puree setting). It turns out awesome!

So, I’m extremely pleased. The texture of ice this machine produces lets my crappy blender make awesome frozen drinks. The only downsides I can think of are the noise (and it’s not as noisy as my blender) and that only two ice containers are included. What I do to keep a good supply of ice (as recommended by the instructions) is to just put the frozen ones in freezer bags for later and just keep refilling the tray as much as possible. They do take nearly a day to freeze solid. The only other think I can think of is that this appliance doesn’t take up much counter space – which means very large/tall dishes won’t fit underneath. A 2 cup glass measuring cup just barely fits underneath. But if you’re just using a little bowl it should be fine.

I’m very pleased with this purchase – it does exactly what I hoped it would!

Courtney September 3, 2010 at 2:18 am

I bought this snow cone machine primarly for my kids birthday party, and it didn’t let me down! There are so many different machines out there, that even myself was overwhelmed on which one to buy. I was just going to settle for a hand operating, or battery operated one, and I am glad I didn’t. The ice was crushed like fine bits of snow, and the kids love it! So do my husband and I:) It’s very powerful, and I am very pleased with it, and I am happy I bought it! We eat snow cones everynight…

Holly September 3, 2010 at 2:29 pm

I love this snow cone maker I have buy it to sell snow cone at my church for funriser it work very well my inlaw is going to buy one and every one at my church amazon should pay mr comm to sell this

Escalante September 4, 2010 at 1:47 am

HI, I from Costa Rica,
I purchased this popcorn machine and the Snowcone maker because I in the party bussines. I also buy a inflatables everything in Amazon.
I so happy with all my purchased, for my bussines is so good. [...]
I was pleasantly surprised with the overall power of this machine.

I used for my house too.

i love the design realy reminiscent of the old-fashioned theatre-style and can fit on a countertop or table.
It is easy to use and clean up and uses regular-size ice cubes

buy it, is perfect for a party,
Grettel From Costa Rica

Alling September 4, 2010 at 2:29 pm

Terrible, terrible terrible. This thing worked well for 10 minutes. Then it kept getting stuck on the ice cubes. I even let the ice cubes melt a little to soften them up – then I fed them one by one, and it still got stuck!. The plastic cheap gears then went and after about a half hour, the whole thing was worthless. And my 7 year old son was very dissapointed. What a birthday gift.
Don’t waste your money. Read all the bad reviews. The good reviews just tout on how good of a deal this is. Makes you very suspicious as to who is posting the good reviews… the sellers maybe? Really, I’m mad and dissapointed. Don’t waste your money.

Jaramillo September 5, 2010 at 1:43 am

this thing is awesome. it has clear instructions and works fast and easy. my favorite part is how they make you clsean everything before you use it.

Gezalyan September 5, 2010 at 2:39 pm

I had this exact same thing as a kid back in the 80’s. Let me tell you it was not easy. You have to crank ALOT just to get alittle bit of ice and if your a weakling like I was by the time youve finished filling up one little dixie up 1/3 of the ice has already melted. But I mean serious who cant resist this classic toy. Its really cute but unless your going to help make it totally not recommended for little kids.

Fearman September 6, 2010 at 2:17 am

you might have had this thing when you were a kid, but one thing has changed since then. CHINA! this thing broke the first time we used it. daughter was so upset…don’t waste your money!