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Magnets Discussion and Help thread

Duncan Bannon

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I had no problem magnetizing mine. Try wedging a small flathead screwdriver on the seam of the pieces. That's what I usually do to get difficult pieces apart.

I do the same and also use my fingernails. I only use the screwdriver for hard pieces. (don't want to chip plastic)
 

HarryW

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There are plastic prying tools to repair smartphones which also work fine on cubes.
 

One Wheel

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I just started cubing and ordered a number of cubes (not so much for cubing with all of them, but as a collection) which I plan to magnetize if possible. I found quite some info for most of the cubes but I haven't seen a thread or video about the Yulong. I wonder if you can magnetize that cube with the usual 4x2mm disc magnets due to the construction of the corner pieces with that additional plastic piece in the center to connect the sides.
Has anybody already put magnets in their Yulong and did you run into any problems with those corner pieces? Would you rather use N35 or N50 ones?

I magnetized a Yulong a while back with 4x2 n35. The magnets were slightly smaller than advertised, I believe, but I had no problem. It ended up with a very subtle magnetic feel. A very nice cube, really. Still prone to corner twists if you don't use a pretty light touch.

Any help on Magnetizing a Yuxin Little Magic? The corners don't want to come apart.

I've used a utility knife for splitting difficult pieces on several different cubes. Just very gently work the tip of the blade into the crack until it starts pulling apart. YLM corners are tough to get apart. It takes a bit of patience, and they have to pull straight back from the stalk.
 

JohnnyReggae

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Just got my new QiYi WuJi 7x7. It's terrible out the box, so I'm going to have to do a a fair amount of work on it. I want to magnetise it. What magnets have you guys used on the WuJi ? Any idea what magnets the likes of TheCubicle and Speedcubeshop use for the WuJi ?
 

One Wheel

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Just got my new QiYi WuJi 7x7. It's terrible out the box, so I'm going to have to do a a fair amount of work on it. I want to magnetise it. What magnets have you guys used on the WuJi ? Any idea what magnets the likes of TheCubicle and Speedcubeshop use for the WuJi ?
I've magnetized 2 Wujis. 4x1 n52 are fantastic in the corners. I used 4x2 n38 in the edges for both. I thought the black one I did first was great, a few other people thought the magnets were too strong. I think the magnets in the stickerless one I did most recently are too strong. I'd run the calculations, but I think moving down to 4x1.5 n38 would be about right, possibly as weak as 4x1.5 n35. I can't speak to what magnets the cube shops use, except to say that I usually prefer stronger magnets than other people are used to.
 

JohnnyReggae

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I've magnetized 2 Wujis. 4x1 n52 are fantastic in the corners. I used 4x2 n38 in the edges for both. I thought the black one I did first was great, a few other people thought the magnets were too strong. I think the magnets in the stickerless one I did most recently are too strong. I'd run the calculations, but I think moving down to 4x1.5 n38 would be about right, possibly as weak as 4x1.5 n35. I can't speak to what magnets the cube shops use, except to say that I usually prefer stronger magnets than other people are used to.
Currently I have 4x2N35, 3x2N38, 5x1.5N38 and a few 4x1.5N42 ... but not enough to do the whole cube.

Did the 4x2's fit ok ? In my Aofu that I did the biggest I could get in was 3x2's in the edges and 3x1's in the corners which is not enough for my personal preference. I much prefer stronger magnets. I may need to order from Gaussboys ... it's the shipping from the States that makes it expensive and I don't feel like waiting 3 months to get something off of eBay which is a hit-and-miss at best.
 

One Wheel

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Currently I have 4x2N35, 3x2N38, 5x1.5N38 and a few 4x1.5N42 ... but not enough to do the whole cube.

Did the 4x2's fit ok ? In my Aofu that I did the biggest I could get in was 3x2's in the edges and 3x1's in the corners which is not enough for my personal preference. I much prefer stronger magnets. I may need to order from Gaussboys ... it's the shipping from the States that makes it expensive and I don't feel like waiting 3 months to get something off of eBay which is a hit-and-miss at best.

The 4x2s fit fine in the edges. There are some baffles that make it pretty tight, be sure to dry-fit an edge before you actually glue anything. I'm guessing you'd be fairly happy with the n35s in the edges. The 4x1s that I used in the corners were pretty tight too. You might be able to use your 3x2s, but I suspect not. I'm pretty sure the 4x1.5s won't fit. You might compare the thickness of the Wuji plastic to that of the Aofu: I suspect the Wuji is much thinner. Magnets that are too weak in the Aofu may be fine in the Wuji.
 

AMCuber1618

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What would anyone recommend using for a Thunderclap 4x4 mini? I plan on magnetizing mine. (Sorry if this was already asked, I am much too lazy to look through 30+ pages of questions.)
Same here except what about a Valk 3 Power? Strong or lite kit on the Cubicle?
 

Aysha

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Does anyone have any suggestions for removing magnets (and replacing with different strength) from cubes with slots? I want to change the magnets in my Aosu GTSM but I can’t get the magnets out. I’ve tried goo gone and acetone along with wedging it out with a screwdriver. Nothing has worked

You don't actually need to remove them. I just doubled the magnets to get the desired strength.
 

Bemis

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I had put some gaussboys N35 4x2s in a Valk 3 of mine and it wasn't bad. I did several hundred solves, but after using the GTS2 with the N42 5x1 and loving it, I decided the Valk 3 needed to be a touch weaker. I order some N52 3x1.5 and some N38 3x1.5s. I grabbed a fresh Valk and put N52 3x1.5 in the edges and N38 3x1.5s in the corners them mixed those with the N35 4x2s.

Breaks down something like this
Valk with N52 3x1.5 edges with N35 4x2 corners
Valk with N35 4x2 edges with N38 3x1.5 corners

Both combinations really toned the Valk down. Both are very stable and a joy to solve on, but I give a slight edge to the feel of the N35 4x2 mixed with the N52 3x1.5

I did the exact same thing with a Little Magic. Same combos as above and it's an absolute joy to solve on.

I also tossed some N38 4x2s in a YuLong and it is miles better now. Order a few more M3s to play with, but I really love the N38 4x2s in the one I've already done so I may just toss the same in those.
 

PeedroMonte

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I read some pages of this thread and I saw some videos but I can't decide what are the best magnets for these puzzles:
WuQue - maybe 4x1.5 n38 (or 1/8 x 1/16 inch N48?) inner and outer 5x1 N48?
WuShuang - maybe full N38 4x1.5?
Yuxin Cloud - ?
 

One Wheel

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I read some pages of this thread and I saw some videos but I can't decide what are the best magnets for these puzzles:
WuQue - maybe 4x1.5 n38 (or 1/8 x 1/16 inch N48?) inner and outer 5x1 N48?
WuShuang - maybe full N38 4x1.5?
Yuxin Cloud - ?
I'm not especially happy with the WuQue I magnetized. I think for 5x5 you want weaker magnets on the outer layers. I used 4x2 n38 on the inner layers, 4x1.5 n38 on the outer layers on the Wushuang I did. I thought the balance was pretty good, maybe the magnets were overall a little strong. @Ghost Cuber has that puzzle now, if you want to ask another opinion on that setup I'm sure he wouldn't mind.

The best 4x4 I've done is a Yuxin Blue with, iirc, 4x2 n38 outside and 4x1.5 n38 inside (I think I posted about it further up this thread, whatever I said there for magnets is correct).

The best 5x5 I've done is a Yuxin (purple? Not cloud.) With 6x1 n48 inside and 5x1 n52 outside. I've done 2 of those. One is my main 5x5, and my favorite odd-layered puzzle (maybe my favorite puzzle), the other is in the mail to @joshsailscga
 

JohnnyReggae

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The Valk Power I ordered over 3 months ago finally arrived and I was excited to magnetise it. Well that turned into a massive fail. I ended up trying 3 times to magnetise it.

The first I wasn't paying attention to where the edge caps go and glued the magnets exactly where they go. Took them all out, cleaned up where I could and redid them lower and out of the way. However after putting it back together the corners seemed to pull in which caused massive catches with the center pieces. Took the magnets out and again cleaned up where I could. 3rd time I followed DMCubing's tutorial which seemed to work quite well and was easier than what I had done before. But again after putting it back together I still had the corners pulling in again catching a lot on the center pieces.

At this point I've had it, and took the magnets out and put it back together without magnets ... and the *^%$**%^$^&$#@$ corners are pulling in, catching on the centers. The cube is basically shot at this point and unusable really. I cannot for the life of me figure out why the corners are pulling in. I'm not sure if all the glueing and removing of magnets has somehow warped pieces ?

This is the first big fail in magnetising except for the very first cube I did with the wrong magnets without following any polarity. I'm annoyed with the cube and myself because I've done quite a few cubes already and never had this kind of issue :(

Any ideas on what may be causing the corners to pull in ? I am close to just throwing it in the bin and ordering another one, but it did cost me almost $20 which is a fair amount in ZAR.
 

Dom

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I used 4x2 n38 on the inner layers, 4x1.5 n38 on the outer layers on the Wushuang I did. I thought the balance was pretty good, maybe the magnets were overall a little strong.

I saw another post you made about the WuShuang that said you used 4x2 N35 (stronger than 4x1.5 N38) on the outer layers. You said the balance between outer and inner were good.

Which do you think would be a better balance for the outer layers when using 4x2 N38 on the inner layers? 4x1.5 N38 or 4x2 N35?

Here's why I ask.
The 4x1.5 N38 magnets are 75% as strong as the inner layers, whereas 4x2 N35 magnets are 92% as strong as the inner layers. I would think that 75% would be ideal. What are your thoughts on that?
 

One Wheel

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I saw another post you made about the WuShuang that said you used 4x2 N35 (stronger than 4x1.5 N38) on the outer layers. You said the balance between outer and inner were good.

Which do you think would be a better balance for the outer layers when using 4x2 N38 on the inner layers? 4x1.5 N38 or 4x2 N35?

Here's why I ask.
The 4x1.5 N38 magnets are 75% as strong as the inner layers, whereas 4x2 N35 magnets are 92% as strong as the inner layers. I would think that 75% would be ideal. What are your thoughts on that?

I've only ever magnetized one Wushuang. If I said that I used one type of magnets and later said I used a different type, I'm sorry, I was almost certainly mistaken in the later post. Whatever I said first was probably written just after I did it, and was almost certainly correct.

I think you're probably about right that the outer layers should be 75% the strength of the inner layers (I shoot for 80%, but that's pretty close). I don't have a Wushuang handy, but I think I recall measuring and finding out that the thickness of plastic was greater in the outer layers. That may explain the disparity. If you try plugging in some different numbers for distance between magnets it's surprising the difference it makes.
 
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