Magnets Discussion and Help thread

[Berd]

Nice! Could you send a video? I've still never turned a magnetic cube

I'm making on at the moment!

 

[shadowslice e]

Has anyone tried magnetizing a mega? could help since most megas can't corner cut especially well.

 

[JTcuber]

I'm making on at the moment!

Would you use 3 magnets in each edge and 3 in each corner? That way you're using 2 magnets for the inner layers so it's always magnetized, then you magnetize the outside just like a 3x3, right?

 

[shadowslice e]

Would you use 3 magnets in each edge and 3 in each corner? That way you're using 2 magnets for the inner layers so it's always magnetized, then you magnetize the outside just like a 3x3, right?

He actually doubled the number of magnets in each piece so there are 4 in each edge and 6 in each corner.

 

[JTcuber]

He actually doubled the number of magnets in each piece so there are 4 in each edge and 6 in each corner.

Why is that?

 

[shadowslice e]

Why is that?

Because he felt like it and he had a lot of magnets.

 

[Berd]

Why is that?

To elaborate, I don't like that fact than in a normal 3x3, the magnets aren't symmetrical; so I put them in each shell of a piece too.

 

[One Wheel]

Has anyone tried magnetizing a mega? could help since most megas can't corner cut especially well.

I've thought about trying it. Does that count? My current poorly-modded ridged Dayan has a lot of trouble with catching that I don't think magnets would fix. Also I just took apart a couple of pieces and I think it would be absurdly difficult to fit magnets in there. You might be able to get away with using a very small, strong magnet. I don't know about other Megaminx designs. They might be easier.

 

[aybuck37]

I've thought about trying it. Does that count? My current poorly-modded ridged Dayan has a lot of trouble with catching that I don't think magnets would fix. Also I just took apart a couple of pieces and I think it would be absurdly difficult to fit magnets in there. You might be able to get away with using a very small, strong magnet. I don't know about other Megaminx designs. They might be easier.

Imagine a magnetic florian mod megaminx

 

[newtonbase]

To elaborate, I don't like that fact than in a normal 3x3, the magnets aren't symmetrical; so I put them in each shell of a piece too.

That's what put me off doing my Valk. To be symmetrical I'd have to put the magnet over the join and that proved to be beyond me. I hadn't considered doubling up the magnets.
Much less of an issue with capped cubes but there aren't too many out there.

 

[bobthegiraffemonkey]

That's what put me off doing my Valk. To be symmetrical I'd have to put the magnet over the join and that proved to be beyond me. I hadn't considered doubling up the magnets.
Much less of an issue with capped cubes but there aren't too many out there.

What's so special about being symmetrical about the join in the piece? So long as the magnets in a piece have the same rotational symmetry as the piece itself and everything lines up correctly between all adjacent pieces, there should be no difference. Also, fewer magnets (by not doubling up) means less gluing, and fewer magnets misbehaving because there's so many other magnets nearby.

I understand why it might be a good idea for 4x4, but not why it would be relevant for 3x3.

 

[One Wheel]

Imagine a magnetic florian mod megaminx

I don't have much (any) experience with other megaminx designs. What other designs would be easier to put magnets in? Would the Galaxy take magnets easily?

 

[newtonbase]

What's so special about being symmetrical about the join in the piece? So long as the magnets in a piece have the same rotational symmetry as the piece itself and everything lines up correctly between all adjacent pieces, there should be no difference. Also, fewer magnets (by not doubling up) means less gluing, and fewer magnets misbehaving because there's so many other magnets nearby.

I understand why it might be a good idea for 4x4, but not why it would be relevant for 3x3.

The only issue would be small misalignments when an edge is wrongly oriented. It wouldn't affect a solved cube and I doubt that it would affect the solving process but it bothers me.

 

[xyzzy]

What's so special about being symmetrical about the join in the piece?

I had my cube magnetised with the usual "asymmetric" magnet placement (two per edge, three per corner), and the layers snap into place with any misalignment between 12° anticlockwise and 24° clockwise. The difference isn't significant when turning single layers, but maybe it has a more noticeable (negative) effect on slice moves.

 

[One Wheel]

The only issue would be small misalignments when an edge is wrongly oriented. It wouldn't affect a solved cube and I doubt that it would affect the solving process but it bothers me.

I was thinking the same thing, but I sat down to figure out how I might magnetize my 6x6, and I'm pretty sure I figured it out with 2 magnets per edge and 3 per corner, not centered on the seam. I haven't actually done it, so I might be wrong, but the thing is that every edge and pair of wings can flip 180° and every corner can twist 120°. As long as the magnets are, for example, at the outside top corner on the left and outside bottom corner on the right, when it's flipped the configuration will be the same as not flipped, and if it works in a solved state it should work in any scrambled state.

For 6x6:
-|-+|×-|--|-+|×
×|+-|-+|××|+-|-

-=no magnet
× and + show different polarities.

 

[Dom]

I'm thinking about doing this to my beloved Yuexiao. But I'm afraid. I don't want to ruin it.

Should I do it?

 

[xyzzy]

when it's flipped the configuration will be the same as not flipped, and if it works in a solved state it should work in any scrambled state.

Your idea works for the outer wings and the corners, but not the inner wings. If you took two wing pieces with, say, the + polarity and put them next to each other, there wouldn't be any attractive force between them; in effect, on a scrambled cube, the magnetic attraction between the third and fourth layers can be anything from zero to what you expected.

You could try putting magnets in the wing-centre pieces instead, but I don't think there's space to do that.

 

[Chree]

Here's a video Michael Womack posted somewhere else. At 15 minutes he starts talking about 2x2's, and around the 16:20 he shows a solution to the polarity problem that people were wondering about for even layered puzzles.

The history he shares is pretty cool as well.

 

[One Wheel]

Your idea works for the outer wings and the corners, but not the inner wings. If you took two wing pieces with, say, the + polarity and put them next to each other, there wouldn't be any attractive force between them; in effect, on a scrambled cube, the magnetic attraction between the third and fourth layers can be anything from zero to what you expected.

You could try putting magnets in the wing-centre pieces instead, but I don't think there's space to do that.

Uff da. I'm not sure if you're understanding my diagram correctly, but I think you're right. The two lines of the diagram are different halves of the edge. I was thinking that because with this configuration R B R' or R make a working configuration on the UF edge it was OK, but I realize now that R B' R2 puts two magnets of the same polarty in different halves of the inner wing next to each other. I think it would work with more magnets, like this:

-|-+|××|+-|-+|×
×|+-|-+|××|+-|-

2 more magnets per edge, so it would take 144 magnets to fully magnetize a 6x6.

 

[supercavitation]

Has anyone tried magnetizing a mega? could help since most megas can't corner cut especially well.

I've made 2. One of them sucks, the other is amazing.

Would the Galaxy take magnets easily?

Not easily. I have an idea that I think would work, but it'll be weird and complicated. I used an Aurora, which was much, much easier.