61–69 of 69 posts
I was kind of hoping the faces would be heat-colored but I imagine that would have been a bit more complex.
just need an oven with good temp control. there is this lovely bronze color you can get on stainless.its strangely alot more stable than color you get from heat treating mild steel...but i bet it would rub off if you used it a nontrivial amount
My first thought was: how the heck could you assemble a metal cube? Putting a plastic one together relies on the springiness of the material in order to place the final piece, but metal won't give in the same way. The solution: > The face centers each receive a hollow stem that screws into the 5/16-24 thread. This assembly holds a captive spring-loaded screw, which screws into the core. The spring provides some give…
I had the same thought but just tested with a fairly standard "premium" plastic cube (not Rubick's brand) and I think it works in the same way. There are springs and that allows assembly/disassembly and I think it would work with a less flexible material. Not sure if the Rubick's brand ones are the same or if they really do rely on flexible plastic.
This 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 picke…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had the same thought but just tested with a fairly standard "premium" plastic cube (not Rubick's brand) and I think it works in the same way. There are springs and that allows assembly/disassembly and I think it would work with a less flexible material. Not sure if the Rubick's brand ones are the same or if they really do rely on flexible plastic.
Rubik's
My first thought was: how the heck could you assemble a metal cube? Putting a plastic one together relies on the springiness of the material in order to place the final piece, but metal won't give in the same way. The solution: > The face centers each receive a hollow stem that screws into the 5/16-24 thread. This assembly holds a captive spring-loaded screw, which screws into the core. The spring provides some give…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder if one can hollow out the individual cubes to decrease the weight.
Or you could increase the weight by using tungsten or depleted uranium.
> Although it may be neat to look at, it weighs a massive three pounds (~1.4 kg) and is very tiring to manipulate. Solving this is more a test of the wrists than of the mind! This was the punchline I was looking for. The aluminum version seem like a more desirable version at 500g.
Tungsten is famously hard to machine, but ultra-pure tungsten is supposed to be OK.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or you could increase the weight by using tungsten or depleted uranium.
With the same dimensions as the one in the article, tungsten would be around 7.3lb, and DU is only slightly lighter. If it was osmium, the densest known element, it would be around 8.5lb.
Strangely, osmium oxide is a gas.
Iridium might be the better choice.
My first thought was: how the heck could you assemble a metal cube? Putting a plastic one together relies on the springiness of the material in order to place the final piece, but metal won't give in the same way. The solution: > The face centers each receive a hollow stem that screws into the 5/16-24 thread. This assembly holds a captive spring-loaded screw, which screws into the core. The spring provides some give…
I had the same thought but just tested with a fairly standard "premium" plastic cube (not Rubick's brand) and I think it works in the same way. There are springs and that allows assembly/disassembly and I think it would work with a less flexible material. Not sure if the Rubick's brand ones are the same or if they really do rely on flexible plastic.
Long story short, a random chinese Rubiks cube knockoff is quite likely to be higher quality than an actual Rubiks brand cube these days.