More cubecare (noobcare!) questions..

[ChrisD]

So I got one of Dan Harris' premade DIYs, and not really knowing anything else, they're pretty good (at least compared to the un-lubed paper-stickered carpal tunnel generator I was using before).

A couple of questions..

1) The action has gotten a tiny bit sticky. It takes a little bit of force to "break" the move before it slides smoothly, if that makes sense. It's *real* mild though, but I'm wondering if that feel is normal - it's nothing serious but I would probably prefer something a little bit more slippery.

2) The outside of the cube is getting some of the lube from the inside on it (probably some oil from my hands, too). I believe Dan uses the vinyl stickers from cubesmith, so they should be pretty waterproof, but how should I keep the outside of the cube clean? Just a damp cloth, maybe a little soap? I handed my cube to my brother and it was like.. "ew, gross, it's slimy". I notice after playing with it for a while, my hands get a little sticky/slimy from the oils/lube too. Anyone have any tips for this?

Thanks!

PS: Progress is slow! Algorithms don't stick so easily in my head, but I think I can learn 1-2 a day. As I start to see more moves as connected, I'm sure it'll come, but it sure is slow needing to have OLL, PLL and an intuitive F2L page up as a crutch. I'd say my average solves right now are about 4-5 minutes per.

[joey]

You can just wipe the stickers with some paper towels, thats all it needs!

For the breaking in etc, you might need to relube it abit. Some lube only last a few weeks or so, so that might be one of the problems.

Btw: I also use a cube from Dan Harris!

[AvGalen]

ChrisD: While it is always good to learn advanced stuff, I don't think learning OLL, PLL and intuitive F2L is really what you should be doing if you are at the 4-5 minutes per cube!

I would recommend that you start with a beginners method (< 10 algs) untill you reach 1:30. That should be easy to do in a couple of days.
Then switch to intuitive F2L + 4 look last layer (0+3+7+2+4=16 algs) untill you reach 0:45. That should be doable within a month.
Then learn PLL untill you reach 0:35 and then OLL.

[ChrisD]

I'm kind of tongue-in-cheek 4-5 minutes per cube. I think my layer by layer approach I used a few years ago garnered times of 2-3 minutes. The CFOP method is fairly "simple" for me to understand, and I think once I get several algorithms down it will be very quick. I need a lot of practice with intuitive F2L (it's still hard for me to see separated pairs), but it's coming.

I am kind of stubborn but I like to learn things "the right way", even if it's hard and has a steep learning curve. I don't mind. Basically, I didn't want to spend much time learning algorithms that I wouldn't use all that often.

[AvGalen]

Hi ChrisD:

I use keyhole and a 4 look last layer, but all the algs I know are part of Fridrich F2L, OLL, PLL. Right now I only know 10+10+7 of the 41+57+21 algs and I can still average sub 30 any day! If doing it "the right way" takes 4-5 minute, it is not "the right way". And don't think that F2L-OLL-PLL is the only way either!

[doubleyou]

well the lube from inside of the cube is dry. wich means it doesnt flow.
your finger might feel slippery, but not moist. this dust can be wiped off easily with toilet paper or the like.

after you have used your cube, you will feel that it becomes smoother (broken in). you'll have to re-lube it.
once you re-lube it you will get the same ultra-smooth feeling that it had, even better. but you kinda were the lube down quickly. but it takes a while to were it out completly.

I recommend learning Fridrich! deffinatly!!!

but you can get fast with any method

[apoplectic]

ChrisD: While it is always good to learn advanced stuff, I don't think learning OLL, PLL and intuitive F2L is really what you should be doing if you are at the 4-5 minutes per cube!

I would recommend that you start with a beginners method (< 10 algs) untill you reach 1:30. That should be easy to do in a couple of days.
Then switch to intuitive F2L + 4 look last layer (0+3+7+2+4=16 algs) untill you reach 0:45. That should be doable within a month.
Then learn PLL untill you reach 0:35 and then OLL.

so i shouldnt be trying to do 3 look ll (best time is 53.10)

[AvGalen]

"shouldn't" is not the right word. As I said, advanced stuff is always good, but if you know 3 look and are "stuck" at the 50-60 seconds mark you are doing something wrong.

Don't take my recommendations as golden rules, but use them as guidelines. Everything that works for you is good!

[ChrisD]

Maybe I wasn't clear, I wasn't really trying to "skip" right to the advanced stuff, but I'm new to speed cubing (really just a matter of days) and I had to pick some method. Fridrich seemed like the best method to go with in the end (I'm certainly not going to learn all the algs Jason is), but it's slow to start because I'm simply not used to reading algs in terms of RLFUDB notation.

I'm learning intuitive F2L, and then I'll learn OLL and PLL. To start, I will probably learn a few perms (I notice the G perms come up a lot) just to "get it done" while I complete OLL.

[AvGalen]

Thanks for clarifying. So how many "looks" do you use now? How many algorithms do you know for the last layer?