Over the course of a 20-minute period in a hard-fought hockey game, the ice suffers a considerable amount of damage. As skates leave deep traces and the surface is scraped, tiny bits of ice quickly accumulate, making the puck bounce and slow down. Goalies constantly sweep the front of their nets to get rid of excess snow and thereby reduce the risk of unpredictable puck trajectories. When the buzzer rings, it's time for players-and the ice-to take a much-needed break and let the marvelous machine officially known as the ice-resurfocer but almost always called the Zamboni smooth out the ice. 3 Doors open, nets are pushed aside, and the boxy vehicle makes its entrance, leaving a trail of vapor in its wake. Less than ten minutes and a few laps later, the ice is shiny, smooth, and ready to take another period of beating. At some rinks, two Zambonis do the sweeping, and it's not
uncommon for "Zamboni races" to take place, to see which driver can resurface their half of the rink first.
The name Zamboni, synonymous with ice-resurfacer, comes from its inventor, Frank J. Zamboni (1901-88), a tireless inventor and entrepreneur from southern California (of all places), with expertise in refrigeration. As owner of his own indoor rink, Frank Zamboni was faced with the challenge of maintaining a good skating surface in a region of the country where the climate is hostile to ice. In the 1940s, resurfacing the ice meant pulling a scraper behind a tractor to shave the surface. It took up to four workers to scoop away the shavings, spray water over the surface, and squeegee it clean; including time to allow the water to freeze, the process took over an hour. The technological challenge of automating the whole operation became Zamboni's obsession, but it was destined to be an adventure with many trials, setbacks, and countless improvements. Eventually, Frank
Zamboni's efforts proved fruitful. In 1949 the Model A Zamboni was born, and, for the first time, not only was a single machine able to consistently produce a good sheet of ice, but it could do it in much less time.
Mr. Zamboni's first ice-resurfacers did not look like the modern ones: they were marvels of craftsmanship, built using bits and parts of different vehicles. The first Zamboni to closely resemble the ones we know today was the Model C, made in 1952. Built on a complete Jeep, the vehicle had an elevated driver seat at the rear and a lower snow tank (a reservoir in which the ice chips are dumped) to allow better visibility. The basic design of the Zamboni has remained the same ever since, although many technological improvements have been made. For example, some machines today are entirely powered by an electrical motor, eliminating the carbon monoxide that is pro- duced from gas-powered engines.
The role of the ice-resurfacer entails more than just sweeping up the snow and pouring warm water on the ice. Producing a good sheet of ice is a complicated process that involves four steps, though modern Zambonis do these steps all in one sweep. Fig. 1.5 shows the inside of a modern Zamboni. Located underneath the driver's seat is a long, sharp steel blade that removes a thin layer of ice.
This evens out the surface and helps remove the grooves. In the second step, an auger removes the shavings and sweeps them up into a vertical screw, which in turn dumps them into a large bucket for storage. The bucket is later emptied once the job is done. The next stage involves washing the ice, in order to flush the grooves and loosen any dirt or debris that has accumulated on the surface. For this purpose, water from a smaller reservoir is sprayed evenly on the ice, and the excess water is squeegeed and vacuumed out. To avoid unnecessary waste and to keep the size of the reservoir to a minimum, the wash water is filtered and recirculated. Finally, a coat of water is applied uniformly with a pad, which quickly freezes and creates a smooth, shiny surface. The warm water, usually heated to around 60 to 65°C, "fuses" with the ice quicker than cold water would. This helps melt the remaining irregularities and replaces the original layer that was shaved. The warmer the water, the more even the new surface will be.
Although driving a resurfacer around seems easy and fun, it's not that straightforward. Operators are usually required to have a driver's license and take some training lessons. Even so, rink owners will usually only trust someone enough to hand them the keys to this vehicle after a couple of years of supervised experience. It's too easy to destroy a rink with that machine to let a novice drive it. For example, because of the Zamboni's sheer weight, stopping the machine for too long could create holes in the ice. There are many tricks to be learned, such as determining where the ice is thinner based on how faded the lines are. A skilled resurfacer needs to know how to add water to thicken those areas.
Today's Zambonis are used on ice rinks around the world and smooth out ice surfaces for prestigious events such as the Winter Olympics and NHL games. They are sophisticated machines weigh-ing up to 4 metric tons when full of water and have a capacity of up to 1,000 liters, enough to fill 2 bathtubs to the brim. Thanks to the modern ice-resurfacers, hockey fans can watch their favorite sport without having to wait hours between periods.
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