BlazingDragon
Member
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2015
- Messages
- 21
Now there has been way too many threads asking bout lubes, so ive made this guide to help newer cubers find the perfect lube! I know this post isnt going to be perfect but hopefully you guys can help me out by improving this thread, suggestions and feedbacks are welcome. I will be constantly updating and editing this thread both from your feedbacks and also if new lubes come that are worth mentioning.
Ok so the first lube i will be talking about is the ones for the hardware. What lubing the core, center pieces and general hardware does is it makes the cube a lot SMOOTHER and reduces friction. What it also does is prevent spring noise. Spring noise is that awful sound you hear when you turn a layer of your cube, when the spring catches on the sides of the center piece. Lubes that are suitable for the hardware are thicker and higher viscosity lubes, this is because lubing the hardware doesnt affect the speed it just affects the smoothness. So a higher viscosity lube will result in a much smoother cube albeit a little gummy, but this actually is good for the core because it helps the lube stay on the core and last longer. The thickness of lubes are defined by weight(wt), cst, and k's. Ex: 50k is thick while 10k is runny.
Hardware lubes:
Lubix: Lubix is a pure silicone distillate that has been proven to work really well on cubes. It comes with a useful syringe and dispensing tip which makes lubing a lot easier. But in terms of the bang for your buck Lubix isnt exactly the best, Lubix costs $2 per cc or ml which is very expensive in comparison to other alternatives, so using Lubix isnt recommended. You can basically get Lubix by mixing a 50k diff oil and a 30k diff oil in a 1:1 ratio resulting in 40k which is around the viscosity of lubix. You can find it here
Calvin's Lube: This is basically the same as lubix but it DOESNT come in the useful syringe and the dispensing tips. It has 2 variants: medium and high viscosity. The medium viscosity is equal to 30k and the high viscosity is equal to 50k. Just like lubix this lube is not recommended because it costs $1.4 per ml or cc. You can find it here
Cubicle silicone Lube: This is also a pure silicone distillate that ranges from weight 1 translating to about 10k to weight 5 translating to approximately 50k. this lube is quite cheap at 3.89 per 5cc but if you buy more than that the price gets cheaper. This lube comes with the syringe and dispensing tip similar to Lubix. It is not quite as cheap as mixing the lubes yourself but it is a viable option if you dont want to spend your time mixing lubes. You can find them here
Differential oil: This is a silicone lube that come in different viscosities. It is mainly used for rc cars but works very well to lube your cube. You can mix the different viscosities to make certain viscosities, the mixing calculator can be found here (the scale can be in wt, k's or cst). This can be used to basically make Lubix by mixing 50k and 30k in a 1:1 ratio like I said above. The most popular brand for differential oil is Traxxas. This lube is by far the cheapest option along with shock oil, but of course if you want to make a certain viscosity you have to mix it yourself. The best weight for the core is probably Lubix's weight (40k) but if you dont want to mix lubes you can always just use 50k. This lube can be bought on ebay, amazon, or your nearby rc car or hobby stores.
Shock oil: This is basically Diff oil but just runnier. Shock oil will always be runny but it is still good for the core. The most popular brand is Team Associated. You can also mix this like diff oil, the best viscosities range from 40wt-60wt. This lube can be found at the same places as diff oil with around the same prices.
So now on to lubes for the pieces. Lubes for pieces are usually runnier and help speed the puzzle up and make it a bit smoother. You should apply it on the tracks of the edges and corner pieces of your puzzle. The lubes I mentioned in the hardware lubes section will also apply for the pieces but you should pick a lighter weight. Weights that work well are: Weight 1-3 for Cubicle lube, 10k-30k for Traxxas diff oil and 10-30wt for Team Associated Shock Oil.
Lube for pieces:
Lubicle: An increasingly popular brand of lube run by the cubicle. It is probably normal silicone lube but the viscosities are unknown, there are Lubicle speedy, gummy and regular. The speedy is to speed up your cube and make it faster, gummy to slow it down and make it smoother, while regular is in the middle. If you are a really fast cuber and like fast cubes use Lubicle speedy, if you like a smoother and more controllable cube use Lubicle gummy. Lubicle gummy is also very useful for one handed cubes because it will make it much better for OH. The lube is like the normal cubicle lube but a bit more expensive. It is worth it though because i find the viscosities are perfect for what they say they do. These viscosities works amazing for the pieces! You can find them here
Other lubes: You can use diff oil, shock oil, lubix, cubicle lube too. Recommended viscosities shown above.
So now the final part! The additional lube is stuff like Maru which you can use to maintain your lube and is kind of like steroids, crc and jig-a-loo and other silicone sprays are also additional lubes. These lubes can help break in your cube, make it faster or smoother.
Maru Lube: This is literally like steroids for your cube, this will make it super fast and is nice if you like fast puzzles. It is quite expensive but in my opinion definitely worth the price tag. It also dries out quickly so you may have to reapply once in a few days. Generally it takes very little of maru to feel the performance, around 3-4 drops is more than enough. I recommend using it if you are trying to break your PB or going to a competition. It also is very very runny and looks like milk (DO NOT DRINK). You can find in any general speed cube shop like The Cubicle.
Silicone spray: It is for lazy people who dont want to take their cube apart to lube stuff. You can use any brand of silicone spray since it doesn't really matter. However, don't mix them with other lubes since they are not pure silicone.
Ok, now on to stuff you definitely dont want to use because it will destroy your cube.
The DO NOT PUT IN list:
Anything NOT for lubing: Things like cooking oil and hair oil and such will make your cube fast at the start but will ruin your cube because it has small particles of minerals and what-not that will grind the plastic in your cube.(People have reported some success by using these oils but try it at your own risk)
Lube that contains Petroleum: Things like WD-40 is bad because it will literally destroy and eat away at your plastic. This includes vaseline and other lubes that contain petroleum. These thing will dissolve your plastic overtime and while you may not realize it the plastic will be eaten away overtime and eventually be unusable. This one is ok though.(Again people have reported some success by using these but try it at your own risk)
I have decided to add 2 additional sections to help out with lubricating bigger cubes and about mixing lubes. Lubricating big cubes such as the 4x4 and 5x5 brings some interesting elements to the table. The key and difference to a decent big cube and an amazing speed cube is RUNNY lube.
Lubing big cubes: Now you would lubricate a bigger cube the same way you would to a 3x3 or 2x2, with the same lubes that you normally use but with an extra step at the end. The extra step is using shock oil to lube the inner pieces that hold the cube together. So I recommend using some 10wt-20wt shock oil at the end by dripping some drops on the outer layers. Since shock oil is very runny the lube will eventually flow around the cube and coat all the other areas that you may have missed.
Mixing Lubes: As i said with my explanation of diff oil you can mix shock oil and diff oil together to try and make a certain viscosity of lube. I decided to explain a little more about mixing lubes, and add some useful tips. Mixing lubes can be a bit easier using a mixing calculator i referred to in the diff oil explanation. The calculator can be found here. Now to make things a little easier I decided to include useful tips on mixing lube. When mixing lube it is very useful to have some spare empty syringes to mix the lube in and then apply to the cube. This actually also makes it a lot easier than just applying lube from say a diff oil or shock oil bottle. It is also useful if you have a dispensing tip for the same exact reasons. The dispensing tip and empty syringes can be found here.
I hope this guide really helped you and helped you make good decisions. Suggestions and feedbacks are always welcome, Thx!
Ok so the first lube i will be talking about is the ones for the hardware. What lubing the core, center pieces and general hardware does is it makes the cube a lot SMOOTHER and reduces friction. What it also does is prevent spring noise. Spring noise is that awful sound you hear when you turn a layer of your cube, when the spring catches on the sides of the center piece. Lubes that are suitable for the hardware are thicker and higher viscosity lubes, this is because lubing the hardware doesnt affect the speed it just affects the smoothness. So a higher viscosity lube will result in a much smoother cube albeit a little gummy, but this actually is good for the core because it helps the lube stay on the core and last longer. The thickness of lubes are defined by weight(wt), cst, and k's. Ex: 50k is thick while 10k is runny.
Hardware lubes:
Lubix: Lubix is a pure silicone distillate that has been proven to work really well on cubes. It comes with a useful syringe and dispensing tip which makes lubing a lot easier. But in terms of the bang for your buck Lubix isnt exactly the best, Lubix costs $2 per cc or ml which is very expensive in comparison to other alternatives, so using Lubix isnt recommended. You can basically get Lubix by mixing a 50k diff oil and a 30k diff oil in a 1:1 ratio resulting in 40k which is around the viscosity of lubix. You can find it here
Calvin's Lube: This is basically the same as lubix but it DOESNT come in the useful syringe and the dispensing tips. It has 2 variants: medium and high viscosity. The medium viscosity is equal to 30k and the high viscosity is equal to 50k. Just like lubix this lube is not recommended because it costs $1.4 per ml or cc. You can find it here
Cubicle silicone Lube: This is also a pure silicone distillate that ranges from weight 1 translating to about 10k to weight 5 translating to approximately 50k. this lube is quite cheap at 3.89 per 5cc but if you buy more than that the price gets cheaper. This lube comes with the syringe and dispensing tip similar to Lubix. It is not quite as cheap as mixing the lubes yourself but it is a viable option if you dont want to spend your time mixing lubes. You can find them here
Differential oil: This is a silicone lube that come in different viscosities. It is mainly used for rc cars but works very well to lube your cube. You can mix the different viscosities to make certain viscosities, the mixing calculator can be found here (the scale can be in wt, k's or cst). This can be used to basically make Lubix by mixing 50k and 30k in a 1:1 ratio like I said above. The most popular brand for differential oil is Traxxas. This lube is by far the cheapest option along with shock oil, but of course if you want to make a certain viscosity you have to mix it yourself. The best weight for the core is probably Lubix's weight (40k) but if you dont want to mix lubes you can always just use 50k. This lube can be bought on ebay, amazon, or your nearby rc car or hobby stores.
Shock oil: This is basically Diff oil but just runnier. Shock oil will always be runny but it is still good for the core. The most popular brand is Team Associated. You can also mix this like diff oil, the best viscosities range from 40wt-60wt. This lube can be found at the same places as diff oil with around the same prices.
So now on to lubes for the pieces. Lubes for pieces are usually runnier and help speed the puzzle up and make it a bit smoother. You should apply it on the tracks of the edges and corner pieces of your puzzle. The lubes I mentioned in the hardware lubes section will also apply for the pieces but you should pick a lighter weight. Weights that work well are: Weight 1-3 for Cubicle lube, 10k-30k for Traxxas diff oil and 10-30wt for Team Associated Shock Oil.
Lube for pieces:
Lubicle: An increasingly popular brand of lube run by the cubicle. It is probably normal silicone lube but the viscosities are unknown, there are Lubicle speedy, gummy and regular. The speedy is to speed up your cube and make it faster, gummy to slow it down and make it smoother, while regular is in the middle. If you are a really fast cuber and like fast cubes use Lubicle speedy, if you like a smoother and more controllable cube use Lubicle gummy. Lubicle gummy is also very useful for one handed cubes because it will make it much better for OH. The lube is like the normal cubicle lube but a bit more expensive. It is worth it though because i find the viscosities are perfect for what they say they do. These viscosities works amazing for the pieces! You can find them here
Other lubes: You can use diff oil, shock oil, lubix, cubicle lube too. Recommended viscosities shown above.
So now the final part! The additional lube is stuff like Maru which you can use to maintain your lube and is kind of like steroids, crc and jig-a-loo and other silicone sprays are also additional lubes. These lubes can help break in your cube, make it faster or smoother.
Maru Lube: This is literally like steroids for your cube, this will make it super fast and is nice if you like fast puzzles. It is quite expensive but in my opinion definitely worth the price tag. It also dries out quickly so you may have to reapply once in a few days. Generally it takes very little of maru to feel the performance, around 3-4 drops is more than enough. I recommend using it if you are trying to break your PB or going to a competition. It also is very very runny and looks like milk (DO NOT DRINK). You can find in any general speed cube shop like The Cubicle.
Silicone spray: It is for lazy people who dont want to take their cube apart to lube stuff. You can use any brand of silicone spray since it doesn't really matter. However, don't mix them with other lubes since they are not pure silicone.
Ok, now on to stuff you definitely dont want to use because it will destroy your cube.
The DO NOT PUT IN list:
Anything NOT for lubing: Things like cooking oil and hair oil and such will make your cube fast at the start but will ruin your cube because it has small particles of minerals and what-not that will grind the plastic in your cube.(People have reported some success by using these oils but try it at your own risk)
Lube that contains Petroleum: Things like WD-40 is bad because it will literally destroy and eat away at your plastic. This includes vaseline and other lubes that contain petroleum. These thing will dissolve your plastic overtime and while you may not realize it the plastic will be eaten away overtime and eventually be unusable. This one is ok though.(Again people have reported some success by using these but try it at your own risk)
I have decided to add 2 additional sections to help out with lubricating bigger cubes and about mixing lubes. Lubricating big cubes such as the 4x4 and 5x5 brings some interesting elements to the table. The key and difference to a decent big cube and an amazing speed cube is RUNNY lube.
Lubing big cubes: Now you would lubricate a bigger cube the same way you would to a 3x3 or 2x2, with the same lubes that you normally use but with an extra step at the end. The extra step is using shock oil to lube the inner pieces that hold the cube together. So I recommend using some 10wt-20wt shock oil at the end by dripping some drops on the outer layers. Since shock oil is very runny the lube will eventually flow around the cube and coat all the other areas that you may have missed.
Mixing Lubes: As i said with my explanation of diff oil you can mix shock oil and diff oil together to try and make a certain viscosity of lube. I decided to explain a little more about mixing lubes, and add some useful tips. Mixing lubes can be a bit easier using a mixing calculator i referred to in the diff oil explanation. The calculator can be found here. Now to make things a little easier I decided to include useful tips on mixing lube. When mixing lube it is very useful to have some spare empty syringes to mix the lube in and then apply to the cube. This actually also makes it a lot easier than just applying lube from say a diff oil or shock oil bottle. It is also useful if you have a dispensing tip for the same exact reasons. The dispensing tip and empty syringes can be found here.
I hope this guide really helped you and helped you make good decisions. Suggestions and feedbacks are always welcome, Thx!
Last edited:
i want to watch lol
Its hard to mix it like that because Lubix isn't all that special and imo is not worth it's weight
