cube wearing off fast ?

[teacher77]

I'm new to cubing and I bought a few cubes, including a Weilong GTS which is currently my favorite. However, each time I buy a new cube it's amazing for a week or two and then I find it becomes loose and less stable. I tried relubing and even disassembling, cleaning and lubing, but I still can't get my cubes to feel the way they felt when I bought them.

I searched this forum for answers on this but it's like searching for a needle in a forest.

Sorry if this sounds like obvious but as I said, I'm very new to cubing : I started about 2 months ago.

 

[xchippy]

Have you tried tightening it?

 

[teacher77]

Have you tried tightening it?

Yes. I turned about 3/4 of a turn clockwize on each face. But I admit I didn't try different tensions.

Anyway, could those screws unscrew themselves just by solving the cube ? I assumed it was unlikely but maybe I'm wrong...

 

[unirox13]

Re-tensioining is your friend! Take the center caps off of the 3x3 and you'll likely discover a philips head screw. Use a screwdriver and tighten/loosen each screw as seems necessary for that side. A lot of times, the stock lube is put in thick and miscellaneously. After a week or so of solving, that lube gets mixed throughout the cube, making sluggish sides seem a lot faster, and fast sides even faster. Re- tensioning is your best friend. I recommend the (potentially old-school) method of tightening every side down as far as possible. Then, loosen each side a quarter turn of the screw until it reaches your desired speed and feel.

 

[teacher77]

I recommend the (potentially old-school) method of tightening every side down as far as possible. Then, loosen each side a quarter turn of the screw until it reaches your desired speed and feel.

Thanks, good idea to standardize the result !

Any chance that screwing to the max would damage the springs ?

How often would you go through that procedure ?

And if you allow me the question : how can those screws unscrew themselves just by solving the cube ? I assumed it was unlikely but I guess I was wrong...

 

[unirox13]

They're They're standard machine screws put into a plastic core. Because the centers of the face of the cube don't actually have much physical contact or friction with the screw, they don't move much. I usually adjust the tension on my cubes monthly. Even though the center is spinning around the screw; pressure, lube, tension, can all play a role in how those screws slightly move. Because every side turns both ways, every side can sorta kinda, and very slightly be adjusting the tension on the screw every time you turn it. Like I said, it's a good thing to redo every month or so.

As far as tensioning pressure, when you tighten that screw, turn it until it becomes uncomfortable to turn. Either for you or for the tension of the screw. Don't turn until you can't turn anymore, but at the same time, don't turn so little that the screw still is easy to play with. It's kind of a personal thing, honestly. You want each screw to feel tight, but not broken. Tight, but still turntable in both directions. Tight, but not forced. It really is a personal feeling thing.

Just make sure that you adjust each side evenly. Evenly tightened, and the loosened the same amount on each side each time.

It takes some fiddling to get used to, but once you do, you'll develop a system for tension adjustment every time you do it.

 

[bazmonkey]

Any chance that screwing to the max would damage the springs ?

If you really tighten it to the max it can damage things. An alternative is to take the cube apart except for the core/centers, and screw them all in the same amount (I eyeball the number of threads). From there you'd be tightening to taste, not loosening.

How often would you go through that procedure ?

No real guideline: whenever you get the feeling that it's not "good" anymore.

And if you allow me the question : how can those screws unscrew themselves just by solving the cube ? I assumed it was unlikely but I guess I was wrong...

They probably didn't. What's likely happening is the factory lubricant is getting worked in more. What used to feel cushy and lubed gets dry and clacky.

Another thing that might be stopping you from getting the feel you want is the weight of the lubricant. Medium-weight stuff might feel best fresh while the feel you're looking for is actually from heavy-weight stuff that's been worked in longer.

I also have a "thing" for my cubes feeling just right, and to that end I clean and re-lube my cubes immediately upon purchase. I might lose out on the fresh-from-the-factory feel, but in exchange, I *know* how to make the cube feel like I expect, because I did it in the first place.

 

[teacher77]

I also have a "thing" for my cubes feeling just right, and to that end I clean and re-lube my cubes immediately upon purchase. I might lose out on the fresh-from-the-factory feel, but in exchange, I *know* how to make the cube feel like I expect, because I did it in the first place.

Interesting. And what lubricant and lubricating procedure do you use ?

P.S. Also, you refered to the weight of the lube. Can you be more specific as to what you have in mind ?

 

[bazmonkey]

Interesting. And what lubricant and lubricating procedure do you use ?

P.S. Also, you refered to the weight of the lube. Can you be more specific as to what you have in mind ?

On a "normal" cube that isn't too fast, I use 40K shock oil on the core pieces (somewhat liberally), and 3 weight silicone on two pieces (just lines across a side, no more).

On a "fast" cube that I feel I need to slow down, I do the core the same but use the same shock oil on the pieces. My favorite cubes are slowed-down "fast" cubes, I believe because the heavy lube worked-in gets lovely (see the last paragraph).

On a "slow" cube (don't see many of these), I go weight 1 silicone on the pieces.

I do this after finding a good tension: before taking it apart I fiddle with the tension to where it's not too loose, but corner-cutting isn't sacrificed. Then I take it apart and note about how much travel the pieces have, so that after I do my core-lube ritual I can get it back roughly where I think it should be. If the lube turns out to feel wrong, I'll redo the lube on the pieces... I *won't* adjust the tension to fit. Tension == stability vs. corner cutting. Lube == speed control.

The core lube isn't terribly important, because the actual speed the interior of the center cube passes the screw is never that high. You just want it to last, really (so thick tends to be good). The pieces are where lubricant weight matters: that's where plastic-on-plastic is really rubbing at relatively high velocity.

What I meant with the whole weight thing is that if you use high-viscosity (high weight) lubricant on the pieces, at first it will be rather "gummy". But with many solves and time, the lube works itself around (so you don't feel the "gumminess" of literally spreading the lube around), some actually works itself out and onto your hands, a little dust works itself in there eventually, etc. After a long time, it won't be so gummy, but it'll have this smooth butter feel that some people really like. You might get something closer to that feel by using a lighter weight with less break-in time, but it might not have that magical feel you're after. This isn't necessarily the case with yours: just thinking of ways that factory feel is different than what you're doing. It might be a combination of lube + tension + working in that results in the feel you miss.

 

[teacher77]

On a "normal" cube that isn't too fast, I use 40K shock oil on the core pieces (somewhat liberally), and 3 weight silicone on two pieces (just lines across a side, no more).

Oh. I used Jig-a loo to lubricate my cube, as recommanded here :

.

How does this "3 weight silicone" compare ?

Also, Jig-a loo is a spray. So I simply put away an egde piece, spray in and suffle for a minute or so. How do you lube yours ?

Then I take it apart and note about how much travel the pieces have,

Can you please explicit what you mean ?

just thinking of ways that factory feel is different than what you're doing. It might be a combination of lube + tension + working in that results in the feel you miss.

Yeah, I'm assuming, but do you have specific combinations in mind ?

 

[bazmonkey]

Oh. I used Jig-a loo to lubricate my cube, as recommanded here :

.

How does this "3 weight silicone" compare ?

Hard to tell. Sprays are harder to apply with precision. Plus that video is a bit dated (a LOT changed since '09): clear (not milky-colored like they say their injectable lube is), straight-silicone lubricant is widely available now. Between the hassle of spray (ventilation, not spraying the outside surfaces accidentally, etc.) and how cheap a bottle of diff/shock oil is, I personally don't see a compelling reason to use a spray anymore.

Also, Jig-a loo is a spray. So I simply put away an egde piece, spray in and suffle for a minute or so. How do you lube yours ?

I apply it to the pieces. For a typical average-amount, I take two opposing edges, put maybe 3 drops worth of lube on them (particularly the inner tracks, not as much on the sides), and then work it in (solve it a bunch). If I need more, the next thing I lube is the working part of a corner piece.

That brings up another reason I don't like spray: if you just spray inside a cube, you'll end up coating a bunch of places that don't actually contact anything: where lubing is worthless. Plus, the parts that don't get sprayed are where pieces are in contact and aren't exposed... a.k.a. exactly where you want the lube to be. IMO a cube that has lube where lube doesn't need to be is over-lubed. On a warm day or something that lube slowly gets into the contact areas, and voila: your cube starts to feel mystically gummy as time goes on.

Hehe, can you tell I don't like spray?

Can you please explicit what you mean ?

Travel == how far something can move. Once I get the tensions good, I open it up, pull the centers apart and note how tight the screw is (e.g. I can pull the center away from the core and expose about 4 screw threads). That way when I'm lubing I can put it back to where I know it should be, saving me the time of doing that mid-lubrication process, and helping me better judge how the lube is affecting it.

Yeah, I'm assuming, but do you have specific combinations in mind ?

No... it's really a personal preference thing. To get an idea--if you have two similar or like cubes--lube one with a heavier lubricant, work it in, and use it for a couple weeks or so. Then clean and lube the second one with the same lube after those weeks, and feel the difference between the two. At least then you'll have a notion going forward of how a cube feels when freshly lubed versus how it'll feel after being heavily worked-in.

 

[teacher77]

...

Thanks for all of your kind help. I ordered various types of silicon lubes and I'll experiment with it.

(Sorry for this slow reply, I was out of town on vacation.)

 

[teacher77]

I still can't do it... The main problem that I have is that my weilong GTS won't stay "square" when I hold a 2x2x3 and finger trick the two "free" slices. But it DID stay square when it was "out of the box".

Here's what I did to try and solve that : (first, keep in mind that 2-3 weeks ago I had lubed my weilong GTS with jigAloo). After we spoke here, I increased its tensions and felt it was "ok" but not as good as new.

Then I ordered a second weilong GTS to compare. I realized that its tensions were much looser than what I had set on the old one. So the problem wasn't the tensions.

I played a while with the new cube and after 300 solves or so it started feeling just exactly like the old one : it won't stay square unless I hold it excessively.

Then I figured that maybe the "out of the box" cube stayed square because the factory lube might be heavy weight. So I ordered 50w silicone shock fluid and lubed the working parts of two cubies with it. The cube feels a little more gummy and definitly more lubed, but it STILL won't stay square when I play with it. What the h ?

 

[Eduard Khil]

I still can't do it... The main problem that I have is that my weilong GTS won't stay "square"

Try having a lighter grip on the cube with your left hand. Hold it lightly and turn gently.
Or try getting a "squarer" cube like a Zhanchi, Yuexiao, Thunderclap

 

[teacher77]

Try having a lighter grip on the cube with your left hand. Hold it lightly and turn gently.
Or try getting a "squarer" cube like a Zhanchi, Yuexiao, Thunderclap

It's what I'm doing. But the point is that I didn't have to do that when the cube was brand new. How can I restore that behavior ?

 

[Eduard Khil]

Sometimes I grip really hard with my left hand especially when I'm nervous or overly excited. The way I improved that problem was to pay attention to having a lighter grip. Since it is probably a bad habit ingrained into your muscle memory, it would take a while to change it so just try gripping lighter I guess.

 

[teacher77]

It's a good point and I'll definitly keep that in mind. But it doesn't change the fact that the physical cube has changed its response and I'm looking into restoring that response. Any advice on how to lube/tension it ?