Older cubers discussions

[CLL Smooth]

Been relearning my G perms for OH. It reminds me of learning them the first time, I get them mixed up so much worse than others. Most algs are unique enough when they are new I either forget them or not. But with these I think I know it, and then do R instead of R' or U instead of U' or whatever. It's fun to be learning algs though, I should do it more often!

I still make these same mistakes, often mixing up R and R'. I've done it enough to get a visual cue and know when I made the mistake, though. It's always when the 1x2x2 should come together in the U layer. If it doesn't appear when it should I go back and do the R move again.

 

[mark49152]

Been relearning my G perms for OH. It reminds me of learning them the first time, I get them mixed up so much worse than others. Most algs are unique enough when they are new I either forget them or not. But with these I think I know it, and then do R instead of R' or U instead of U' or whatever. It's fun to be learning algs though, I should do it more often!

I have the same problem with G perms on big cubes. Muscle memory doesn't quite work and I frequently mix up R and R' etc.

 

[JohnnyReggae]

Phase 1 complete

Around 70 minutes in total to dismantle and glue the 24 magnets into the 1/2 edges, per DMCubing's tutorial. The corner stem piece required more effort than I expected, but equally it's not quite as fragile as I'd built up in my mind! You can use quite a bit of force, but be sensible...

On a couple of occasions, I knocked edges I'd previously assembled, causing the magnets to pop out and rejoin their friends elsewhere. Once my "tube" of unused magnets got too close to the working edges, and pulled the magnets out.

On one occasion, I managed to insert a magnet with the incorrect polarity somehow, but this was immediately apparent, and easily fixed.

Gorilla Glue claims 15 minutes working time, and I'd say that seems to hold true. I'd estimate I've used less than 1/100th of the 115ml pot I bought today, and could definitely do another 50 cubes (cost £7).

Once you're on a roll, I reckon you could knock these out VERY quickly, in the end I was smearing glue on 4 edges, inserting 4 magnets, then dropping extra glue on all 4 in turn, but careful you don't rush and knock things. If I'd known what I was doing from the start, this could have been done in 30-45 mins; if you have multiple cubes, perhaps 20-30 mins per cube.

Polarities are all definitely right, just remains to be seen what happens when I get to the corners tomorrow. Overall, it's been a very enjoyable and relatively low-stress experience, so far!!


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Looking good. Keen to see more pics of your process. I've also been through DMCubing's tutorials which are quite concise and seem easy to follow. My new Valk should be arriving later this month ... I hope ... It's been sitting in the north of the country for 2 weeks already. Our postal service is terrible. Can't believe that a package can take 2 weeks to get from the middle of China to Johannesburg, and then takes more than a month to make the 1500km trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town ... sigh ... Then again the magnets that I ordered off eBay have not arrived yet either so I won't be magnetizing anything until they arrive. Received the smaller magnets I ordered some 3mmx2mm ... but they are definitely too small to use.

Feeling left out with all the magnetized cubes around ... FOMO

 

[pipkiksass]

Looking good. Keen to see more pics of your process. I've also been through DMCubing's tutorials which are quite concise and seem easy to follow. My new Valk should be arriving later this month ... I hope ... It's been sitting in the north of the country for 2 weeks already. Our postal service is terrible. Can't believe that a package can take 2 weeks to get from the middle of China to Johannesburg, and then takes more than a month to make the 1500km trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town ... sigh ... Then again the magnets that I ordered off eBay have not arrived yet either so I won't be magnetizing anything until they arrive. Received the smaller magnets I ordered some 3mmx2mm ... but they are definitely too small to use.

Feeling left out with all the magnetized cubes around ... FOMO

That sucks, I forget how spoilt we are with next day delivery on stuff in the UK!

So phase 2 took less than 20 minutes, and here's why...

First thing I noticed this morning was that on curing the glue had expanded considerably (as expected) and (again as expected) I'd used far too much. You can see here the difference between a FAIRLY neat edge, and a totally excessive one.

The reason for this is that the dispenser on my Gorilla Glue bottle is about as accurate as a blind sniper. What I decided to do today was to pour a dollop of glue onto the plastic bag my magnets came in, and use this like a paint palette.

Gorilla Glue has the texture of fairly thin honey, and what I did last night with the edges was to paint some on to the surface of the edge (the "destination" spot for the magnet), then attempt to drip some over the top using the tube. What I decided to do this morning was:

1 - paint surface of destination spot on 4x corners

2 - pair up with 4x edges, dropping helper magnet from edge onto destination spot on corner
3 - using a cocktail stick, place a small drop of glue over/around the magnet in the corner piece

This whole process, for a set of 4 corners, takes less than 2 minutes. Seriously, I wish I'd done it last night!

Because of the working time with Gorilla Glue, having poured out enough glue for a dozen corners, I had plenty of time to finish them all without noticing any effect on the glue on my "palette". Then I added some more, and finished the job.

All in all, around 20 minutes this morning (90 minutes in total). I'm confident that, knowing what I now know, I could do a whole cube in around an hour, and make a much better job of it. There may be some trimming of glue and/or sanding required to get the cube turning smoothly.

So that's £16 for a Valk, £3 for magnets, and £7 for glue (but I still have enough for all the magnetic cubes I'd ever care to make). Totally enjoyable project, will see how it handles this afternoon!!


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[JohnnyReggae]

That sucks, I forget how spoilt we are with next day delivery on stuff in the UK!

So phase 2 took less than 20 minutes, and here's why...

First thing I noticed this morning was that on curing the glue had expanded considerably (as expected) and (again as expected) I'd used far too much. You can see here the difference between a FAIRLY neat edge, and a totally excessive one.

The reason for this is that the dispenser on my Gorilla Glue bottle is about as accurate as a blind sniper. What I decided to do today was to pour a dollop of glue onto the plastic bag my magnets came in, and use this like a paint palette.

Gorilla Glue has the texture of fairly thin honey, and what I did last night with the edges was to paint some on to the surface of the edge (the "destination" spot for the magnet), then attempt to drip some over the top using the tube. What I decided to do this morning was:

1 - paint surface of destination spot on 4x corners

2 - pair up with 4x edges, dropping helper magnet from edge onto destination spot on corner
3 - using a cocktail stick, place a small drop of glue over/around the magnet in the corner piece

This whole process, for a set of 4 corners, takes less than 2 minutes. Seriously, I wish I'd done it last night!

Because of the working time with Gorilla Glue, having poured out enough glue for a dozen corners, I had plenty of time to finish them all without noticing any effect on the glue on my "palette". Then I added some more, and finished the job.

All in all, around 20 minutes this morning (90 minutes in total). I'm confident that, knowing what I now know, I could do a whole cube in around an hour, and make a much better job of it. There may be some trimming of glue and/or sanding required to get the cube turning smoothly.

So that's £16 for a Valk, £3 for magnets, and £7 for glue (but I still have enough for all the magnetic cubes I'd ever care to make). Totally enjoyable project, will see how it handles this afternoon!!


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Wow !! Nice job. You're making me jealous. I really want to do this magnetic thing now

As with all modding it's a good idea to set a process in place and store pieces properly even if it's only 1 or 2.

In the mean time I've been keeping myself busy with another mod project which is close to being finished ... 1 more coat of paint and then stickers, so hopefully tonight or tomorrow night I'll have it done. All depends if the last coat of paint is going to dry tonight ...

 

[Shaky Hands]

I saw this from a distance and thought it was a cake with funky icing sugar.

 

[Logiqx]

@megagoune + @teacher77 - great to see you guys have now done an official competition.

Are you eligible for the over-40's rankings? If you are then let me know if you want to be added and ideally let me know your YOB.

@kbrune - you've been competing for a good while now but I'm guessing you're not yet over 40?

Do we have any other regulars missing from the "unofficial official" rankings for the over-40's?

 

[pipkiksass]

So my thoughts on my DIY Valk M...

Initially I was very surprised at how much resistance the magnets create when turning. I went for 4x2mm N35 magnets, which were pretty much the weakest I could find, and when slow-turning there's almost a 'snap' as each turn is completed. When turning faster, it's pretty much not noticeable.

M slices are heavier, for obvious reasons - you're forcing against the strength of 4 magnets, vs 2 for any other face turn. This makes U, Z, and H perms feel odd, but I'm sure I'll get used to them.

Given that I average sub-18 at the moment, I thought I'd try setting the cube up exactly the same as my main Valk (in terms of tensions and lube), and doing an Ao100, which came out at 19.21. This isn't a dismal Ao100 for me, but pretty poor. Best Ao50 was just sub-19 (18.92), that's a full second and a half off my PB.

I've heard that magnetic cubes need to be set up on looser tensions, so I'm going to loosen the cube up a little, but I think that (more than anything else) I just need to get used to the completely different sensation when solving. I had a 15.08 single, and a 16.42 Ao5, but the best Ao12 was 18.12, which is outside my global average. When I have a nice, smooth solve, the cube seems to respond much better. When I get anxious, it seems to slow me down, rather than speeding me up at the moment. I've not had so many sup-20s in a LONG time, and some were a long way over 20.

The cube feels fantastic to turn, so sharp and crisp, and ludicrously stable. I'm going to persist with it, and have a tinker - the project has been a resounding success, but it's not the instant holy grail that perhaps I'd been subconsciously hoping for! I think that, on looser tensions and with more breaking in, it could be a fantastic cube. Perhaps expecting something to be main-worthy "out of the box" (i.e. with no breaking in) was a little optimistic.

Even if you just do it as an experiment, I can highly recommend magnetising cubes, it's great fun and cheap. I'm pretty sure that my DIY Valk M would compare pretty favourably to a much more expensive one from a mainstream cubing store, and I have the added satisfaction of knowing that I put several hours of my own time into making it.

 

[Logiqx]

Been relearning my G perms for OH. It reminds me of learning them the first time, I get them mixed up so much worse than others. Most algs are unique enough when they are new I either forget them or not. But with these I think I know it, and then do R instead of R' or U instead of U' or whatever. It's fun to be learning algs though, I should do it more often!

I know what you mean about the G-perms. Fortunately I can usually see when I've made the wrong turn and I can go back.

I've found that R-perms have also caused me trouble in the past for OH. I've re-learnt them at least 3 times after taking breaks from OH for over a month and that's always resulted in my forgetting the R-Perms. Cubing whilst windsurfing also had unexpected results with my R / R' turns. I ruined a heap of really good solves by completely messing up my U-perms at the end. My fingers did strange things that they would never do when sitting at my desk!

I presume you use a regular Valk for OH?

I got some new OH PB's earlier today. I haven't done an Ao50 since last October so it's nice to see I'm still sub-30 and ~28s.

 

[phreaker]

I know what you mean about the G-perms. Fortunately I can usually see when I've made the wrong turn and I can go back.

I know that feeling

I've found that R-perms have also caused me trouble in the past for OH. I've re-learnt them at least 3 times after taking breaks from OH for over a month and that's always resulted in my forgetting the R-Perms. Cubing whilst windsurfing also had unexpected results with my R / R' turns. I ruined a heap of really good solves by completely messing up my U-perms at the end. My fingers did strange things that they would never do when sitting at my desk!

I had a problem with one of the R's forever... it finally cleared up, and I can do R(a) and R(b). Now, it is practice, practice, practice, and some look ahead work .

I presume you use a regular Valk for OH?

Actually, for me, I'm using a Gans AIR UM, or a Valk M . Magnetic cubes REALLY help OH, if you are strong enough to turn them, IMHO.

Then again, my turning may just be that bad

I got some new OH PB's earlier today. I haven't done an Ao50 since last October so it's nice to see I'm still sub-30 and ~28s.

Nice... I wish I was going that fast... I need to work on look ahead, and executing EOLine smoothly. (Ironically, the best practice for that may be scrambling a cube OH.

 

[phreaker]

For those waiting on "initial impressions": of the Gans UM:

I've not changed the springs from the purples yet. I suspect I'll be going to Greens or Yellows, long term.

The magnets are not very strong. They are enough to remind you that they are there, and keep things aligned if you aren't too rough, and if you are... it is a Gans AIR U. It'll cope.

I find the cube a BIT quick for my taste. And I like REALLY fast cubes. Corner cutting is not full at the moment, but I put that down to my setup, not the cube, though I have excellent reverse cutting which is what I tend to rely on when I make serious mistakes, in current trim, it'll cut 7/8ths of a cubie in reverse... (Looking from the front, skew as if doing U, and pull down R')

It is my "main"? For BLD, I think it will get there. I'm probably more consistent on my Valk at the moment when I practice drills. But I think the UM has more potential to give better feedback, and just do better. For 2H: If setup right, almost certainly, but I wouldn't call today's setup "right"

For OH: Time will tell... and it depends on what I want the cube to do... do I want it focused more to OH, and the looser side, or 2H... unclear. Given that I solve 90%+ OH.. I expect that'll be an on-going debate as I go along.

Is it a great cube with a unique feel: Yes.

Is it for everyone: No, it isn't going to convert people who don't like GANS cubes. I happen to like them, or at least am Neutral+ towards them.

Am I getting my times on it: About the same as my Valk M. (Which is about 10% better than a non-magnetic, I'm guessing.)

 

[kbrune]

@megagoune + @teacher77 - great to see you guys have now done an official competition.

Are you eligible for the over-40's rankings? If you are then let me know if you want to be added and ideally let me know your YOB.

@kbrune - you've been competing for a good while now but I'm guessing you're not yet over 40?

Do we have any other regulars missing from the "unofficial official" rankings for the over-40's?

I'm 37. Still 2 and a half years before I officially qualify for the 40+ list.

@megagoune
Its the same for me. For some reason I've always performed better at competitions. Barring a few where nerves made the cube look like a solid colour during Inspection. It happens where I look at the cube and nothing registers for like 5 seconds. But generally my nervousness or adrenaline. Tends to make my hands more tense and unable to turn fast like I do at home. which means comps force my look ahead to be better. Lucky break for me I suppose.

 

[h2f]

Nice to see all of you are progressing in many events. I must mention I've started learning CLLs - I've realized I start fogetting CMLLs and recognition patterns and I was courious how CLLs work. I'll see if affects my times. Pi and H are memorized now.

 

[pipkiksass]

Just had a LOVELY scramble, which I thought I'd share with you all - R B2 L' U D2 B R' U2 F R' F R U2 B D B2 U2 B F2 D2 L' F' L2 - 13.20

Nice easy cross, managed to preserve first pair and make second pair while watching it. 2-look OLL and still 13.20. The irritating thing is I got an adjacent edges OLL that I know, and can execute at reasonable speed, and 2-looked it because... IDK.

Anyway, it's my Valk M PB, so far, and should've been sub-12 full-step, possibly all-time PB.

I may be warming to this cube, but it still has a long way to go, or maybe I do...!!! I've done maybe 300 solves on it timed, and maybe another 50 untimed, and it's a thing of wonder, but I just don't seem to get consistently fast times with it. Tell a lie, I do, but my fails seem to be more epic with the M than with the standard Valk - a bad time can be 25+, which would normally be 1/100, but is now maybe 1/20 or worse.

I have a feeling that a squirt of lube and a few thousand solves, and it'll be great.

 

[Shaky Hands]

Just had a LOVELY scramble, which I thought I'd share with you all - R B2 L' U D2 B R' U2 F R' F R U2 B D B2 Y2 B F2 D2 L' F' L2 - 13.20

?

 

[pipkiksass]

Lmao autocorrect on my iPhone, I'll look up the scramble and post it from my computer tomorrow!!!!


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[Shaky Hands]

I presume it's U2 since Y and U are next to each other on the keyboard.

If so, I see an easy 3-move cross with (z2) (F2 R' L') then I'd probably do the first 2 pairs using (U R U R2 U' R) (F U2 F').

 

[Selkie]

Just managed to catch up on the thread. So many awesome achievements by you guys. PBs, First comps, comp PBs, MBLD successes, DIY M cubes, Sub 1 4x4 just to name but a few.

Apologies yet again for being absent of late, life seems to be busier during redundancy than working but that must be all the decorating I will try harder to keep up to date.

Cubing wise I have been concentrating mostly on 6 and 7 with good improvement. I think I am sub 5:50 for 7 and sub 3:50 for 6 globally, just need to convert that to official now.

With the recent loss of a very dear friend not ashamed to say I have been feeling low of late but was great to catch up with @Shaky Hands today for a beer, lunch and a catch up, happy days.

 

[CLL Smooth]

First sub-10: 9.514
F2 U2 R2 F2 L F2 L' B2 U2 F2 D' F2 U F2 L2 R D2 R' B'

y2 F' R2 D'
L U' L2 U L
R' U2 R U2 L U L'
R' U R2 U R'
U2 R' U R U' R' U R U2' R' U R
Also first timed 2H solve with LL skip.
Boom.

 

[Jason Green]

@Logiqx I use the Valk M for OH now, I don't own a regular one but suspect I'd still prefer the M.

Did y'all see the cubicle video for beginners? IMO probably the best one yet, I didn't even know you could solve like that!