I didn't really want to start a new thread, but is there a way to loosen the springs of a store-bought? I tried sticking rulers in them (where it's connected) but they wouldn't stay.
Basically I have this store-bought and for some reason the core is very tight. The pieces themselves are fine, but there's a little too much resistance when turning.
The reason I know it's the core is because when I take it apart, and put an edge in, the core is so tight that it strains against the piece at a weird angle. Here are some pictures (sorry, cell phone camera quality):
http://img198.imageshack.us/i/2401101750.jpg/
http://img684.imageshack.us/i/2401101752.jpg/
http://img30.imageshack.us/i/2401101803.jpg/
I'm not trying to turn it into a speedcube, but I just want it to be a little more reasonable to use. I maintain it pretty well - clean it, lube it, just put new stickers on it as the old ones were completely destroyed (so it's not a matter of breaking it in more either). I just took it upon myself to try to salvage it and I'm finding it more difficult than I expected (I thought I'd just have to lube it, didn't expect it to be a core problem). I can still do finger tricks on it semi-decently (I do R U R' U' in groups of 6 just for fun) so I feel like it's not hopeless.