No logo on 3BLD?

[oneshot]

So we can’t use a cube that has a printed logo on it? Even one that you can’t feel? What’s the rationale behind that? I understand if there was a sticker on it you could determine where one of the centers is with the blindfold on, but why no logo at all?
I just bought and really like my tornado, but can’t use it for BLD…
Maybe cube shops should denote on their site which cubes have printed logos…

 

[Cuber Score]

Sadly, that doesn't matter, there can't be a logo, printed or not.

 

[ruffleduck]

You can erase a printed logo

 

[NmeCuber]

I'm pretty sure @abunickabhi has mentioned in another thread that it would be too time-consuming to check each logo to see if it was a sticker or not.

 

[UncleFrank]

So we can’t use a cube that has a printed logo on it? Even one that you can’t feel? What’s the rationale behind that? I understand if there was a sticker on it you could determine where one of the centers is with the blindfold on, but why no logo at all?

Some people claim that they can feel printed logos.
So, instead of trying to determine who can feel what, and which logos can or can't be felt, they just ban all logos for any BLD.

A pencil eraser will work to remove a printed on logo.
Sugar will work, rubbing the sugar on the logo with your finger, it works kind of like sandpaper, but it tends to leave some very fine scratches.
or polish, like

 

[oneshot]

Some people claim that they can feel printed logos.
So, instead of trying to determine who can feel what, and which logos can or can't be felt, they just ban all logos for any BLD.

A pencil eraser will work to remove a printed on logo.
Sugar will work, rubbing the sugar on the logo with your finger, it works kind of like sandpaper, but it tends to leave some very fine scratches.
or polish, like

Seems like small scratches would be more easily felt than a logo…

 

[abunickabhi]

Some people claim that they can feel printed logos.
So, instead of trying to determine who can feel what, and which logos can or can't be felt, they just ban all logos for any BLD.

A pencil eraser will work to remove a printed on logo.
Sugar will work, rubbing the sugar on the logo with your finger, it works kind of like sandpaper, but it tends to leave some very fine scratches.
or polish, like

How did these people claim to feel the printed logo?

It does not make sense yo.

 

[Samuel Baird]

Seems like small scratches would be more easily felt than a logo…

The regulations have ended up being like this because it's far easier to check for logos than it is to check for scratches. It doesn't make complete sense unfortunately

 

[Mike Hughey]

So just to maybe make this a positively productive thread, what is the best 3x3x3 available now that is legal for BLD? Just curious, because I too just got a tornado, and I would love to have a cube like this that I could use for BLD. Is there anything similar that's WCA-legal for BLD?

 

[Christopher Cabrera]

So just to maybe make this a positively productive thread, what is the best 3x3x3 available now that is legal for BLD? Just curious, because I too just got a tornado, and I would love to have a cube like this that I could use for BLD. Is there anything similar that's WCA-legal for BLD?

I know Graham uses the non-magnetic Yuxin magic for mutli because it's cheap. but I think he uses it for 3BLD as well. Perhaps a magnetic version of that might be good as well.

 

[Mike Hughey]

Actually, I notice thecubicle has an Angstrom version of the tornado, and it appears it has a white center cap and a red Angstrom logo. So apparently thecubicle has access to white center caps for the tornado. I hope they will start selling them for BLD users.

 

[Ayce]

So we can’t use a cube that has a printed logo on it? Even one that you can’t feel? What’s the rationale behind that? I understand if there was a sticker on it you could determine where one of the centers is with the blindfold on, but why no logo at all?
I just bought and really like my tornado, but can’t use it for BLD…
Maybe cube shops should denote on their site which cubes have printed logos…

https://www.speedsolving.com/threads/regulation-3l-and-why-i-dont-like-it.87074/ I think its a dumb rule too, I talked about it here last summer.

 

[UncleFrank]

So just to maybe make this a positively productive thread, what is the best 3x3x3 available now that is legal for BLD? Just curious, because I too just got a tornado, and I would love to have a cube like this that I could use for BLD. Is there anything similar that's WCA-legal for BLD?

I've seen quite a few people who main the Tornado V3 say that the logo wears off pretty quick.
So, you could just speed the process along with a pencil eraser.

 

[FaTyl]

I've seen quite a few people who main the Tornado V3 say that the logo wears off pretty quick.
So, you could just speed the process along with a pencil eraser.

can confirm, i erased the logo off mine and i can't distinguish the white center from the rest. should be bld legal.

i wouldn't recommend using sugar as that leaves a lot of scratches on the piece. i just used a pencil eraser & some water to rinse the ink off.

 

[Mike Hughey]

Just to follow up a bit on this, I reached out to thecubicle about it, and here is some of what they said:

Thanks for reaching out to us. We do have blank caps available no problem. We can do each cap for $1.78. What will happen is we will give you a customized invoice for the request which will allow you to pay. Once the order is complete, it will proceed with like a normal item in our system. If you don't want to double up on shipping we can combine it with your next order. Just let us know so can mark it accordingly.

You're more than free to let other BLDers know that we have the blank caps for the Tornado. If people need UV 12 and 13 caps, we have those available as well. More caps are on the way for other puzzles, but these are the ones that we use the most in our Pro Shop so we have a lot.

Additionally, there are ways to remove the logos without damaging the plastic on more polished parts like the Tornado. We find that finishing abrasives like aluminum polish can actually buff away the painted logo without cutting into the plastic finish keeping it shiny and indistinguishable to the touch. Whenever we run out of caps, we usually do this method to great success. Perhaps a good alternative for people who want just do it themselves. This doesn't work on UV coated stuff for obvious reasons, but for something like the Tornado, it's a great way to get it removed.

 

[Mike Hughey]

Another followup on this. I did get some blank center caps for my Tornado, and here's what they look like:

Looks great, right? But if I put it in the right light, it becomes possible to see a pattern deep in the plastic that sort of matches the logo (probably to make it take the logo better?):

Still hard to see here, but it's a little easier to see in real life. The actual pattern looks just like the normal logo on a tornado, but just the outline of it (a stylized fat X) in the white plastic.

So I'm wondering: will this be accepted as a valid BLD cube? I'd like to know before US Nationals if I could somehow.

And if not, we're back to my previous question: what's the best BLD-legal 3x3x3 on the market today?

 

[artless1der]

So we can’t use a cube that has a printed logo on it? Even one that you can’t feel? What’s the rationale behind that? I understand if there was a sticker on it you could determine where one of the centers is with the blindfold on, but why no logo at all?
I just bought and really like my tornado, but can’t use it for BLD…
Maybe cube shops should denote on their site which cubes have printed logos…

try this, it worked well for me and I even polished a couple "frosted" cubes with it pretty easily

 

[Mike Hughey]

That's nice, but I am curious - how good is it? If you hold it in the right bright light, will you still see nothing? The reason I wonder is that these center pieces I got have never had the logo on them - they were sent before they were printed. So it seems like the plastic pieces themselves are made with a sort of "logo" in them. So it would seem to me that a process like this would still leave that in the plastic. Is that not the case?

As for the claim in the video that it is completely clean when done, I wonder if that's true for GAN but not for Tornadoes.

Edit: I ordered the polish; I will try it and report back here how it does on the Tornado.

 

[Lord_Oscar]

So we can’t use a cube that has a printed logo on it? Even one that you can’t feel? What’s the rationale behind that? I understand if there was a sticker on it you could determine where one of the centers is with the blindfold on, but why no logo at all?
I just bought and really like my tornado, but can’t use it for BLD…
Maybe cube shops should denote on their site which cubes have printed logos…

I know it’s so stupid. Like I understand if it was engraved, but when it’s a tiny sticker what advantage are you gaining?

 

[fes_77]

its still pretty dumb though that you cant use a printed on sticker that you cant feel