A mirror cube made like this would be perfect as it doesn't need any markings on the faces.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_blocks
(The mirror cube is my favourite shape mod!)
Making a Stainless Steel Rubik's Cube
21–30 of 69 posts
Re: Making a Stainless Steel Rubik's Cube
#22This is so cool, stuff like this makes me wish I had studied mechanical engineering instead of computer science. Does anyone know of a good route for learning the software stack associated with this stuff? I keep up with some maker YT channels like Stuff Made Here and they usually do an okay job of showing which machines were used and how each piece was made. But what they usually never show is which programs they us…
Fusion 360 has a free version and is very approachable. It's pretty popular among 3D printing hobbyists, but you can use it for all kinds of 2D and 3D designs.
Re: Making a Stainless Steel Rubik's Cube
#23This is so cool, stuff like this makes me wish I had studied mechanical engineering instead of computer science. Does anyone know of a good route for learning the software stack associated with this stuff? I keep up with some maker YT channels like Stuff Made Here and they usually do an okay job of showing which machines were used and how each piece was made. But what they usually never show is which programs they us…
Watch all the CAD streams from wintergatan live.
Re: Making a Stainless Steel Rubik's Cube
#24Sort of tangentially related. Had this page bookmarked years ago because the craftsmanship on the puzzles is absolutely incredible -
Re: Making a Stainless Steel Rubik's Cube
#25This is so cool, stuff like this makes me wish I had studied mechanical engineering instead of computer science. Does anyone know of a good route for learning the software stack associated with this stuff? I keep up with some maker YT channels like Stuff Made Here and they usually do an okay job of showing which machines were used and how each piece was made. But what they usually never show is which programs they us…
So I'm a software engineer too, but also a cyclist. A weightweenie. At certain point, you begin to mix and match totally incompatible parts, solvable with a modest manufacturing capability. For me, the learning path was basically the same as with programming - lots of motivation, access to internet and tools (a machinist). Back in school, we were taught part sketching and machining basics, which helped a bit. I picked FreeCAD out of available open source solutions, watched a lot of great tutorials on YouTube and, though trial and error, managed to produce designs good enough to serve the purpose. Machinist services in Russia are incredibly cheap, especially if they have their own machines in a garage. With small beginner projects, the price of error is just your time and materials, don't be afraid to experiment.
On a side note, my mechanical engineer acquaintance complains that he should have followed the CS route because programmers earn substantially more here. The grass is greener.
Re: Making a Stainless Steel Rubik's Cube
#26This is so cool, stuff like this makes me wish I had studied mechanical engineering instead of computer science. Does anyone know of a good route for learning the software stack associated with this stuff? I keep up with some maker YT channels like Stuff Made Here and they usually do an okay job of showing which machines were used and how each piece was made. But what they usually never show is which programs they us…
This Old Tony, Blondihacks, Wintergatan, and others have done end-to-end videos from CAD to machining to assembly. I particularly recommend Blondihacks' beginner videos: well produced, fun to watch, and cover nearly everything you need to know to get started.
Also, face the reality you won't be doing work like this on day one. But you will make something fun.
Re: Making a Stainless Steel Rubik's Cube
#27This is so cool, stuff like this makes me wish I had studied mechanical engineering instead of computer science. Does anyone know of a good route for learning the software stack associated with this stuff? I keep up with some maker YT channels like Stuff Made Here and they usually do an okay job of showing which machines were used and how each piece was made. But what they usually never show is which programs they us…
I don't know of any great resources, but from my personal experience and understanding of the landscape is that Fusion360 is the most common real CAD program used by hobbyists, and small shops (especially those that are basically "hobbyist bought a bigger mill and moved into a larger garage"). Some of the bigger places will use SolidWorks (which is what 95% of my CAD experience is in), but the price there is way out of the range of someone just trying to learn.
In general, the aspect you're asking about is called an "assembly" - where you can bring in multiple parts that you have designed (and even design new parts "in place") to see how they go together and, to a minor extend, interact. I say "minor extent" there because most assembly systems aren't running full physics simulations or collision detection, at least most of the time - SolidWorks will happily let you design and assemble a model that is physically impossible to put together, while letting you rotate bodies through each other.
So yeah, I'd recommend starting with Fusion360. There are plenty of resources out there for learning it, but I do know that Grimsmo Knives and NYC CNC have videos showing how they specifically use it.
Here's what seems like a very in-depth video from Grimsmo on 5-axis machining (so definitely not applicable to just starting to learn, but this is the first I found - I know plenty of their other videos have details about fixturing and setup): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqhctiVZtRU
NYC CNC has an entire playlist called "Fusion 360 for Beginners": https://www.youtube.com/nyccnc/playlists ; I haven't watched any of that, but I've watched plenty of their videos and enjoyed them, so think that playlist should be at least a bit helpful.
There's plenty more detail here, but I don't have the time at the moment to dig deeper - if you have any questions, feel free to leave them here and I'll see what I can dig up.
Re: Making a Stainless Steel Rubik's Cube
#28My tendons are cowering in fear. How fast does it do finger tricks? It seems like there'd be a lot of resistance since so much surface-to-surface contact, where speedcubes typically flex on springs so that the shape of the cube changes to cut rotation on different curved planes.
Re: Making a Stainless Steel Rubik's Cube
#29This is so cool, stuff like this makes me wish I had studied mechanical engineering instead of computer science. Does anyone know of a good route for learning the software stack associated with this stuff? I keep up with some maker YT channels like Stuff Made Here and they usually do an okay job of showing which machines were used and how each piece was made. But what they usually never show is which programs they us…
I would say start messing around in Blender and do a few basic youtube tutorials just to get a feel for sculpting
Then you could probably test using a desktop CNC machine at some kind of maker space (or even some libraries now have them!)
Re: Making a Stainless Steel Rubik's Cube
#30A mirror cube made like this would be perfect as it doesn't need any markings on the faces. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_blocks (The mirror cube is my favourite shape mod!)
A ghost cube would be nice too.