Twisty puzzles.

Yadda · 9 Jul 2018 at 19:50

Anyone into solving and collecting these?

I had a Rubik's cube (3x3x3) in the early 80's as a kid and had the urge to get another one late last year as my mid life crisis took hold, so I picked up a modern 3x3x3 "speed cube".

Since then I've added a 2x2x2, 4x4x4, 5x5x5 and Megaminx (dodecahedron) to the collection and really enjoy messing with them and learning the differences between their methods.

So, are there any other cubers on here?

Malevolence · 9 Jul 2018 at 19:52

I had a Rubiks Cube when they first came out, I solved it then gave it away.

Rannoch · 9 Jul 2018 at 19:59

Got a speed cube, wasn’t keen on the original cube.

Yadda · 9 Jul 2018 at 20:03

They were a nightmare, weren't they?

I just got some MLube cube lube last week and it's made a huge difference to the Qiyi Warrior W (3x3x3) I added magnets to.

I haven't lubed the others. The 2x2x2 doesn't need any and I don't speed solve on the bigger cubes yet.

Rannoch · 9 Jul 2018 at 20:18

Yadda said:
They were a nightmare, weren't they?

I just got some MLube cube lube last week and it's made a huge difference to the Qiyi Warrior W (3x3x3) I added magnets to.

I haven't lubed the others. The 2x2x2 doesn't need any and I don't speed solve on the bigger cubes yet.

They are, original cube isn’t great. I also have a large 3x3 cube that doubles as a light. It’s a nightmare to do though lol

Yadda · 9 Jul 2018 at 20:26

Vargas said:
They are, original cube isn’t great. I also have a large 3x3 cube that doubles as a light. It’s a nightmare to do though lol

Haha, I can imagine. Unless everything's lined-up with laser precision, it jams. Right? What a PITA.

wolfie138 · 10 Jul 2018 at 08:27

i had a Rubik's Snake. couldn't solve the cube to save my life but could make about 100 different things w/ the Snake.

Haze · 10 Jul 2018 at 14:41

wolfie138 said:
i had a Rubik's Snake. couldn't solve the cube to save my life but could make about 100 different things w/ the Snake.

I've still got a blue and a red one at home, they are pretty good

Zatoichi.uK · 10 Jul 2018 at 15:09

I had a Rubiks clock and solved it as a kid. Rubiks magic I could do in about 3 seconds but involved twisting and sometimes breaking the wires. Ha fun times.

TripleT · 10 Jul 2018 at 21:29

Bought my son a Rubik's cube and I've taught myself the layers method using righty lefty, pretty straightforward.

Not looked but are there other ways of solving it I assume? The speed solvers are mental! Blindfolded are witches.

Yadda · 10 Jul 2018 at 21:52

TripleT said:
Bought my son a Rubik's cube and I've taught myself the layers method using righty lefty, pretty straightforward.

Not looked but are there other ways of solving it I assume? The speed solvers are mental! Blindfolded are witches.

Nice. I'm guessing you've learn't the beginners method - it's where most people start. From there I moved to the Friedrich/CFOP (Cross, First two layers (F2L), Orientate last layer (OLL), Permutate last layer (PLL)) method, which is similar to BM but is more efficient. For example, when solving the first two layers (F2L), in CFOP you pair the corner and edge pieces before inserting them whereas in BM you insert the corner pieces first, then take them out again to pair with their respective edge piece.

There are many other efficiencies with CFOP too, when solving the last layer. I'm a long way from learning all the last layer cases and algorithms but it's something I can build on with time. At the moment I do 2-look OLL and 2-look PLL but it's possible to complete these stages in 1-look if you learn a lot more algorithms.

Another popular method is called Ruwix but I haven't looked into that at all yet.

Yadda · 8 Aug 2018 at 21:32

Just magnetised my MF3S (the one on the left) with 4x2mm N50 magnets (48 of them!). It feels much more stable now at looser tensions and layers stop more accurately without overshooting...

...and a new cube arrived - a Mini Aolong (the one on the right). I actually ordered a Aolong V2 but they sent the Mini instead. Hey-ho, I've wanted to try a smaller cube for a while (54.5mm as opposed to 56/57mm) so it's no great shakes. It feels great but will also be getting the magnet treatment if I end up keeping it.

bjorkiii · 8 Aug 2018 at 22:16

My snake needs a good lubing.

Yadda · 8 Aug 2018 at 22:22

bjorkiii said:
My snake needs a good lubing.

What are you doing with it?

Pawnless Endgame · 8 Aug 2018 at 22:29

There are different sizes of Rubik's that you can try e.g.

Different shapes / formations as well.

Yadda · 8 Aug 2018 at 22:33

Pawnless Endgame said:
There are different sizes of Rubik's that you can try e.g.

*snip*

Different shapes / formations as well.

*snip*

Cheers. I already have a few different ones, I mention them in the first post. They're all good fun.

Edit: Are they yours?

Yadda · 26 Aug 2018 at 22:56

Contain your excitement folks but I got a couple of new puzzles!

A Moyu Aolong V2 3x3 cube very kindly sent to me for free by the "Smart Cubes" store on Ali Express following their mistake (they sent me a Mini Aolong the first time, which they very kindly said I can keep), and a disentanglement puzzle - Hanayama's Enigma. Good stuff.

PS. I timed myself speed-solving the 3x3 the other evening for the first time in a couple of months. My average over 5 solves was 48 seconds with a new PB of 40 seconds. I'm getting closer to my goal of a sub 30 PB and still have lots of OLL and PLL algs to learn.

rebel rebel · 18 Feb 2019 at 01:46

I bought a cheap 3x3 and when it came the stickers hadn't been peeled correctly, and were stuck on still with white bits on the edges. Some had the middles pushed through. So now i'm waiting for a refund.

I need something to keep the dexterity of my left hand after an operation. What's a decent one to get? (other than the original)

Yadda · 18 Feb 2019 at 12:31

rebel rebel said:
I bought a cheap 3x3 and when it came the stickers hadn't been peeled correctly, and were stuck on still with white bits on the edges. Some had the middles pushed through. So now i'm waiting for a refund.

I need something to keep the dexterity of my left hand after an operation. What's a decent one to get? (other than the original)

Any modern speedcube from one of the big names will be great. A very popular budget cube is the MF3RS2 (and it's predecessor, the MF3RS) by Mofang Jiaoshi (a sub-brand of MoYu). Don't be put off by the relatively low price - they are very good cubes. I'd avoid the Rubik's branded cubes because they don't turn as smoothly and are more prone to catching, unfortunately.

Good luck with the recovery.

something daft already!! · 18 Feb 2019 at 12:55

I had an official one. It even said Rubiks Cube on the White centre square but I left it on the bus in the early 80's. I then got the snake but that wasn't really a puzzle.

I recall a friend who had one with rude pictures on it. It was a Pubic cube.