[Help Thread] How to make my cube better ?

[Shridhar]

Hey!
Can you suggest some ways to make my Valk 3 ( non - magnetic better?
The problem is that it lags too much , corner cutting is not perfect 45° and I am feeling that I wasted my money over it .

I am a beginner ( PB-53 seconds ) , so I don't know how to tension the cube the right way , how to clean it........
By the way , I don't have a lube ,so pls suggest ways to make my cube better without using lube.
PS : I have not adjusted my cube yet, it is in its original factory tensions.

 

[Trexrush1]

I recommend 3 things (not in order of importance) :


1) Buy a lube, I couldnt tell you which but I heard weight 5/ traxxas 50k is pretty versatile. When you get it, put very little into the cube at a time, like a drop basically. From my experience, overlubing with a thick lube like weight 5 sucks. You can also get dnm, which makes a cube instantly fast and isnt hard to apply.

2) Tensioning isnt hard. All you have to do is take off the center caps, take a philips head screwdriver and loosen each side by a quarter turn (loosen is to turn counterclockwise), then feel the cube to see if it feels better. Repeat these steps if it doesnt.

3) Keep your cubes away from dust. When you take it to school, for example, but it in a cube bag or something, and keep it away from dirty places so the cube doesnt become sluggish again. This is often overlooked and recently I learned this the hard way.

 

[Shridhar]

I recommend 3 things (not in order of importance) :


1) Buy a lube, I couldnt tell you which but I heard weight 5/ traxxas 50k is pretty versatile. When you get it, put very little into the cube at a time, like a drop basically. From my experience, overlubing with a thick lube like weight 5 sucks. You can also get dnm, which makes a cube instantly fast and isnt hard to apply.

2) Tensioning isnt hard. All you have to do is take off the center caps, take a philips head screwdriver and loosen each side by a quarter turn (loosen is to turn counterclockwise), then feel the cube to see if it feels better. Repeat these steps if it doesnt.

3) Keep your cubes away from dust. When you take it to school, for example, but it in a cube bag or something, and keep it away from dirty places so the cube doesnt become sluggish again. This is often overlooked and recently I learned this the hard way.

Yeah, I tried that tensioning technique but I don't think I achieved even tensions on all sides , how do you achieve that ?

 

[pglewis]

IME, the Valk 3 gums up rather easily. Full disassembly, thorough wipe-down, and re-lube does wonders for a while. I try not to get too much lube deep into the puzzle as that seems to lead to gumming up a lot more quickly, just a couple drops on the edges and work it in.

I'm not great with setting tensions either, all I know to do is pull the edges from the centers a roughly gauge each face and check if any are way out of whack from the others. Sometimes it'll be obvious by feel too but I mostly just hope for "close enough".

 

[GenTheSnail]

First preliminary questions and assumptions:
The total number of solves that you've done on the cube is less than 100.
Though you have pauses in the middle of your solves, your tps can reach over 5 (6xSexy in under 4.8 sec).

The problem is that it lags too much

Well, it might be that the factory lube is gumming up the cube. You can try disassembling it and wiping all the lube off with a paper towel.
It is also very likely that you still haven't done enough solves on it. Just doing 2-300 solves will help break in the plastic and remove some of the lube.

corner cutting is not perfect 45°

First, why do you need that? Really, corner cutting doesn't need to be much more than 30°. Whatever.
You're cube is probably a little tight. Try loosening the sides each by a quarter turn (as described above). Try not to get it so loose that it pops or corner twists too easily.
Or, the other plausible option is that your turning is to chaotic and the cube just can't handle it. Make sure that your turning is calm and maintains a mostly even tps throughout solves.

I am feeling that I wasted my money over it.

Yeah, I had that feeling when I got my valk. I personally don't like the cube much, but it is a good cube. Your expectations were probably just for some amazing cube that everyone said it would be.

I am a beginner ( PB-53 seconds ), so I don't know how to tension the cube the right way, how to clean it...

I can understand how tensioning a cube could be confusing. However there are lots of tutorials online. Videos like "How to Lube and Tension a MoYu AoLong" by cubeologist usually aren't terribly specific to that cube, and following those instructions will basically work for any cube.

By the way, I don't have a lube, so pls suggest ways to make my cube better without using lube.

Well, cubey time tests a bunch of alternative lube on his youtube channel.
That's too bad. Lube isn't to necessary for cubes these days however. In the olden days cubes were bad and slow (or so I've heard) and were used to help speed cubes up. Now cubes are good and fast and lubes are used mostly to slow down cubes or to alter the feeling. And yeah, they're still used to increase a cube's speed.
Anyway, small amounts of lubes aren't too expensive; a fast and a slow lube can cost around 6$ iirc.

PS: I have not adjusted my cube yet, it is in its original factory tensions.

Turn each side slowly and focus on the difference between each side. Tighten faster/looser sides by 1/8 turns until they all feel roughly uniform, then adjust each face by 1/4 turns until you get to a point that you like.

 

[Shridhar]

First preliminary questions and assumptions:
The total number of solves that you've done on the cube is less than 100.
Though you have pauses in the middle of your solves, your tps can reach over 5 (6xSexy in under 4.8 sec).


Well, it might be that the factory lube is gumming up the cube. You can try disassembling it and wiping all the lube off with a paper towel.
It is also very likely that you still haven't done enough solves on it. Just doing 2-300 solves will help break in the plastic and remove some of the lube.


First, why do you need that? Really, corner cutting doesn't need to be much more than 30°. Whatever.
You're cube is probably a little tight. Try loosening the sides each by a quarter turn (as described above). Try not to get it so loose that it pops or corner twists too easily.
Or, the other plausible option is that your turning is to chaotic and the cube just can't handle it. Make sure that your turning is calm and maintains a mostly even tps throughout solves.


Yeah, I had that feeling when I got my valk. I personally don't like the cube much, but it is a good cube. Your expectations were probably just for some amazing cube that everyone said it would be.


I can understand how tensioning a cube could be confusing. However there are lots of tutorials online. Videos like "How to Lube and Tension a MoYu AoLong" by cubeologist usually aren't terribly specific to that cube, and following those instructions will basically work for any cube.


Well, cubey time tests a bunch of alternative lube on his youtube channel.
That's too bad. Lube isn't to necessary for cubes these days however. In the olden days cubes were bad and slow (or so I've heard) and were used to help speed cubes up. Now cubes are good and fast and lubes are used mostly to slow down cubes or to alter the feeling. And yeah, they're still used to increase a cube's speed.
Anyway, small amounts of lubes aren't too expensive; a fast and a slow lube can cost around 6$ iirc.


Turn each side slowly and focus on the difference between each side. Tighten faster/looser sides by 1/8 turns until they all feel roughly uniform, then adjust each face by 1/4 turns until you get to a point that you like.

Thanks a lot , btw I have done more than 600 solves on it , I bought it 2 months ago

 

[Pecinajunior]

I recommend you buy weight 5 from TheCubicle, that's what I use and it's perfect for me.
In the process of lubing the cube you have to be very tedious on cleaning all the pieces well, even with a little cloth or with some water or some paper towels, then you'll have tons of different tutorials on YouTube, but the best thing is to put lube on every point of friction of the core with he pieces and then a bit on the pieces themselves.
For tensions the only thing you can do is just try different tensions and then decide which one is better for you; try tensioning the cube before assembling it, as you'll be able to see better the differences on the opposite centers by pulling them and watching the space between the piece and the core.
Once you've done that you'll have to break the lube in, so just do some solves and it should be perfect.

Later, with the cube perfectly lubed and tensioned you have to be very careful with the cube, as @Trexrush1 says you have to keep your cubes away from dust.

I hope this helps you

PS: I found this video, it may help you as well, good luck!!