JohnnyReggae
Member
Nice one ! I used the 3x2 N35's in my Valk which have a pull strength of around 2kg less than the N38's, and I think they are too weak in the Valk. I do like the Valk M though it has been made better IMO, but it could be a bit betterI made my first magnetic cube last night. I used a Valk and 5x1.5 N38s. It's really dry and quite tight at the moment because I haven't had a chance to lube or tension it yet, but so far it seems the magnets may be a bit too strong. I have another Valk and a set of 3x2 N38s so I'm going to magnetise that over the weekend. I'm expecting those to be a bit on the weak side, so hopefully if I swap the corners of the two cubes, I'll land up with two awesome cubes.
Here's what I learned from the experience:
- Smaller thicker magnets are much easier to separate. The fingernail on my right thumb hurts like hell after separating those 5x1.5s.
- You should choose your glue based on how you use it. I chose a two part epoxy that starts setting 3 minutes after mixing. Even working quickly, I could only glue about 6-8 magnets in that time. Something slower drying that doesn't need mixing is probably best.
- Don't be messy. I was rushing because of the glue drying and got some glue across those slots inside the corners on a couple of pieces. It took me half an hour with a knife to scrape the glue out of the slots so I could get the corner back together.
Here is an online calculator for determining magnet pull strength ... https://www.kjmagnetics.com/calculator.asp
I found that sliding the magnets across each other as the easiest way of separating them. They split easily. I've used Superglue because it's easy to apply and the initial contact sticks quite quickly. It does take a while to dry completely but seems to do the job.
Probably the biggest thing I've found is organisation. When I've had everything organised ITO parts and process the entire process flows nicely and can get done quite quickly but effectively.