Older cubers discussions

[teacher77]

I know I don't write as often as before but it's the end of the term here and my students are not letting me much free time.

I just wanted to mention that I broke my PB single by a whole 0.9 s, now down at 20.67 sec ! Sub-20 PBs, here I come !

For those interested, here's the lattest iteration of my progress graph. Pink dots are the best single of the day and blue dots are the best average of the day (for 10+ series). These days, they're pretty much my ONLY average of the day, since I'm busy. As you can see, sub-30 Ao10's are still becoming "normal" these days

 

[Shaky Hands]

@teacher77 - nice progress. You might want to take part in the Race to Sub-30 at some point too. I found that a nice landmark point for me.

 

[newtonbase]

@teacher77 - nice progress. You might want to take part in the Race to Sub-30 at some point too. I found that a nice landmark point for me.

I've started that 3 times so far. Never get time to keep it up.

 

[kbrune]

Long story short:
- The Valk 3 is awesome, but too fast for me out of the box. I'll need to slow it down with some lube to make it more controllable.

I never knew about this until recently. My 6x6 (don't know brand) was great out of the box but has since slowed down. I assumed the lube had dried out. When I applied the only lube I have (silicone based) I didn't speed it up. It actually felt smoother but just as difficult to turn as before I lubed it.

What type of lube would speed up or slow down a cube? I recently bought maru but haven't used it on anything yet.

 

[pglewis]

Oooh. I've just found a really sick F2L trick whilst playing around...

r U2 r' F2 - execute everything right handed

I've often looked at this case and thought there must be a clever solution.

My previous approach was y' R U R2' U' R

Pretty cool to find a 4 move re-gripless solution!

Edit: Solves FR pair when the edge starts in FL and corner is on top

Since I've been back to daily speedsolves for a several days rather than slow solve theory I may incorporate this for the case from the front. I still like the slice moves when rotated 90 degrees since I have a usable S slice from using it for my U-perms for ages (those will probably change to the M slice versions eventually). Not incredibly grip friendly but I think the low move count makes up for it, beating out a rotation in my speedsolves. Relatively quick solutions for three orientations now.

 

[earth2dan]

I never knew about this until recently. My 6x6 (don't know brand) was great out of the box but has since slowed down. I assumed the lube had dried out. When I applied the only lube I have (silicone based) I didn't speed it up. It actually felt smoother but just as difficult to turn as before I lubed it.

What type of lube would speed up or slow down a cube? I recently bought maru but haven't used it on anything yet.

Oh there's a science to this, and I've far from mastered it.

Maru and similar lubes are a great temporary speed boost, but it dries up quick. It can help to work in a few drops in your big cubes just before an average.

For more long term effects you want to use a silicone lubricant like traxxas, or any of the lubes sold in syringes at most cube stores. Higher viscosity (weight) means thicker lube. That'll slow your puzzle down and make it gummy if you use too much. This is good for slowing down a crazy fast cube, or eliminating spring noise in hardware. Lower viscosity will be more runny and in theory speed things up. I follow the tried, tested, and true philosophy of applying heavier lube in the core, and lighter lube on the pieces. Though, there really is a science to this and you can experiment so much with different lubes, and amounts of lube.

For your 6x6, if it's really slowing down my best recommendation (and it's no fun) is to tear it down, clean all the pieces, and then reassemble it lubing with low viscosity (weight 1-3) along the way. Then use Maru, or Cubicle Silk or something like that to maintain it.

 

[mark49152]

For bigger puzzles you might want to try silicone shock oil rather than differential oil. It is much runnier.

 

[h2f]

Any advice about 4x4 hardware? I need to buy one - my 3 years old AoSu becomes crap.

 

[pipkiksass]

Any advice about 4x4 hardware? I need to buy one - my 3 years old AoSu becomes crap.

Replaced mine with a Yuxin Blue and absolutely no regrets. Springs are very hard, so I replaced them with some from a Fangshi ShuangRen v1, which are much softer and speeds it up a bit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[pglewis]

Any advice about 4x4 hardware? I need to buy one - my 3 years old AoSu becomes crap.

Still a G4 fan but there's so much praise for the Yuxin Blue that I haven't given up hope it might suddenly transform into magic if I ever get around to tweaking it.

I have a WuQue on pre-order from the Cubicle, but they're only in the 62mm size so far. Hoping it feels as nice for me as the 5x5 but also hoping they come out with a smaller size soon.

 

[Logiqx]

That's great! Nobody in my office, family, or general vicinity has a shred of interest in cubing. I'm all alone around here.

@Logiqx - Very nice spreading the cube love at work

Cross and F2L complete.

Everyone is enjoying this activity but productivity might suffer with so many cubes scattered around the office.

Since I've been back to daily speedsolves for a several days rather than slow solve theory I may incorporate this for the case from the front. I still like the slice moves when rotated 90 degrees since I have a usable S slice from using it for my U-perms for ages (those will probably change to the M slice versions eventually). Not incredibly grip friendly but I think the low move count makes up for it, beating out a rotation in my speedsolves. Relatively quick solutions for three orientations now.

I may have misinterpreted but if you're doing this case rotated 90 degrees you should use the 2-gen solution - R U R2' U' R / R' U' R2 U R' or the equivalents on the left.

 

[h2f]

Replaced mine with a Yuxin Blue and absolutely no regrets. Springs are very hard, so I replaced them with some from a Fangshi ShuangRen v1, which are much softer and speeds it up a bit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Still a G4 fan but there's so much praise for the Yuxin Blue that I haven't given up hope it might suddenly transform into magic if I ever get around to tweaking it.

I have a WuQue on pre-order from the Cubicle, but they're only in the 62mm size so far. Hoping it feels as nice for me as the 5x5 but also hoping they come out with a smaller size soon.

Looks like yuxin Blue is on fire. I must mention it must be stable and the inner slicese must turn well. I need it to 4bld.

 

[pglewis]

I may have misinterpreted but if you're doing this case rotated 90 degrees you should use the 2-gen solution - R U R2' U' R / R' U' R2 U R' or the equivalents on the left.

S R2 S' and the mirror can be quite quick IMO.

 

[earth2dan]

Any advice about 4x4 hardware? I need to buy one - my 3 years old AoSu becomes crap.

If you want a great low maintenance 4x4 that just needs to be broken in. Definitely the Cyclone Boys G4. Don't be discouraged when you first get it, it's crap out of the box. The G4 really needs a good 20+ solve break in to start shining.

If you like fussing with lube and adjusting tensions, the Yuxin Blue 4x4 is wonderful after you get it set up nicely. I prefer a nicely set up Yuxin Blue to a broken in G4, but it is a pain to set up and it's not really THAT much better.

Looks like yuxin Blue is on fire. I must mention it must be stable and the inner slicese must turn well. I need it to 4bld.

The G4 inner slices catch really badly at first. I thought mine was broken or assembled incorrectly. It really needs to be broken in. The catching goes away and the cube is stable and all layers turn nicely now.

If you're blind solving with a Yuxin Blue, I recommend the spring swap or tighter tensions with the original springs. The Yuxin tends to pop internals on loose tensions. You can survive a little pop on a sighted solve, but that would be devastating during a blind solve.

 

[Selkie]

@earth2dan - I already have the sculptured Galaxy megaminx and wanted to try the plain. With the lux kit I can try a plain but also the others and still have a spare and spare caps. Win all round

@teacher77 - Nice progress indeed. Go go sub 20

@h2f and 4x4 talk. I have used a Cyclone Boys G4 Stickerless for the best part of 9 months though my order yesterday included a Yuxin Blue 4x4. I have already done the spring swap with a Thunderclap v1 and outlook is really good. Not up to the performance of my G4 but maybe after another 100 solves. Will try and do a review video on Thursday.

 

[Logiqx]

S R2 S' and the mirror can be quite quick IMO.

I've just timed myself on a stackmat doing R U R2' U' R and it's inverse which were sub-0.4s.

S R2 S' took me 1.0s including the required re-grip before and after the alg. The re-grips alone take me ~0.3s.

2-gen without re-grips ftw.

 

[newtonbase]

Just used a corner comm in a 3BLD solve. Get me!

(WB - R2 D R2 D' R2 U R2 D R2 D' R2 U')

 

[pglewis]

Landed new PRs today for single (31.892), mo3 (35.868), and ao5 (38.207). Yesterday was another good milestone with half my times in an ao12 under 40, rather than just 3 or 4. And you've probably never seen anyone grumpier under the circumstances lol. All I want is that one in the 20s, all the other milestones I'd hoped to see for this round have arrived. It wouldn't even take a skip to get there now, just a decent cross, good F2L, and not botching the LL.

I'm likely nearing the potential of all the F2L work I've done to this point, definitely nearly time to get back to combing my cases. I'm probably only about half done with my F2L scrutiny. Also need some exercise to find where to split pairs quickly. That's been a weird emerging problem for me that edge orientation alone doesn't seem to help me with. Definitely a common culprit for times that end up in the mid-40s or worse because I get stuck and have to engage the brain.

 

[mark49152]

Just used a corner comm in a 3BLD solve. Get me!

(WB - R2 D R2 D' R2 U R2 D R2 D' R2 U')

And you didn't start with an easy one either

I'm also in the market for a 4x4. I am still an Aosu man but it feels a bit dated and is still a little catchy even after 1000s of solves. I didn't like the G4, don't want <62mm, and can't be bothered with spring swaps, so am holding out for the WuQue (which I like to think is pronounced "wookie").

 

[newtonbase]

And you didn't start with an easy one either

Ha ha. No, it's a bit of a funny one and quite long, but the rules for it make sense and it flows quite nicely.
I managed a corners only solve too but it was only 5 targets plus a twist. I have a long way to go.