Maintaining the FII

[Erdos]

Hey guys. This is my first post! anyway, I just got the FII from speedcubeshop and it's absolutely amazing. My previous Rubik's cube is two years old and I bought it from Walmart. There's such a huge difference between my two cubes that I've dropped an average of 20 seconds with the FII since I can do finger tricks so much faster (I'm at high 40s right now with Cross/Intuitive F2L/4LLL after cubing for a week).
But besides this, I did about 10 solves and the white side is already peeling off. Should I start buying stickers from cubesmith or is there a way to keep the stickers from peeling off so fast? Also, is there a way to keep dust from accumulating? This a major problem with my old Rubik's cube and it's probably why it's so rigid. Should I just clean the FII every few months or something?

Oh, and yes, I used the search button. Please do not be too harsh on me if people have posted this thousands of times!

 

[Tyjet66]

Ok, first off, congratulations on buying the F-II first, very smart choice. As for it being to fast for you, give it time, F-II was my 2nd cube as well, you get used to it pretty quickly. For peeling stickers, I suggest peeling them up a little more and cutting of the parts that don't stick so they last longer, I replaced my F-II sticker with Cube4You stickers, but they are slightly to big so they are kinda annoying. I'd suggest cleaning it out atleast twice a month, and don't lubricate it until you are already used to the cube. I average around 34-37s using cross/intuitive F2L/2LOLL/PLL. Hope this helps and good luck cubing!

 

[Erdos]

Thanks for the really quick response and the advice. The white stickers are getting some dirt stuck inside already so I think I'll buy some cubesmith stickers soon. I recently bought Jigaloo but yeah, I wasn't sure whether to use it because it was so darn loose already for me. Hopefully, I'll adapt soon enough!

 

[Googlrr]

Ok, first off, congratulations on buying the F-II first, very smart choice. As for it being to fast for you, give it time, F-II was my 2nd cube as well, you get used to it pretty quickly. For peeling stickers, I suggest peeling them up a little more and cutting of the parts that don't stick so they last longer, I replaced my F-II sticker with Cube4You stickers, but they are slightly to big so they are kinda annoying. I'd suggest cleaning it out atleast twice a month, and don't lubricate it until you are already used to the cube. I average around 34-37s using cross/intuitive F2L/2LOLL/PLL. Hope this helps and good luck cubing!

Cubesmith now sells appropriately sized stickers that will work on the F-II.
(http://cubesmith.com/3x3x3SmallSize.htm)

 

[Daniel Que]

Excellent choice in cube! I use an F-II, and I average low 13s to 14s.

I really liked the stickers the F-II came with, and I kept them on as long as possible. When I switched to cubesmith stickers, I too noticed they were slightly bigger than the size appropriate for the cube, but they work fine. People have worked around that problem by using 4x4 stickers, but I wouldn't. As I said, they work fine.

About lubing, I lube my F-II whenever it feels like it needs lubing, I'll lube it, and that usually happens once a month.

Good luck cubing!

 

[dillonbladez]

Use jigaloo, its makes your cube amazing, trust me.
I avg 20-23 seconds. F-II is my main speedcube. Congratz on such fast improvements
To Jigaloo it properly, dissasemble and sweep is the way to go. Make sure you use like half of your can (not, but use a lot. 5 sweeps, maybe?) It takes a while to dry, but it's worth it. Don't wait 6 hrs and wipe of the remaining lube, it just won't be the same.

Get the cubesmith stickers that are specifically for F-II and GhostHands.

 

[Erdos]

Thanks for all the advice guys! I'm loving the FII. I'm hoping to try out an AV and a Haiyan Memory cube this summer from one of my friends up in Berkeley . Also, do you guys know how long the cubesmith stickers last? I know they're said to be the best without a doubt, but I'm wondering if I should buy a few sets since they're not that expensive.

To Jigaloo it properly, dissasemble and sweep is the way to go. Make sure you use like half of your can (not, but use a lot. 5 sweeps, maybe?) It takes a while to dry, but it's worth it. Don't wait 6 hrs and wipe of the remaining lube, it just won't be the same.

Is 5 sweeps a lot? I've watched a lot of videos and read a lot of stuff about the different silicone sprays and I heard that if you apply too much Jigaloo, it ends up slowing down the cube because it acts as a glue (from badmephisto's video). When I add the lube, I think I'm going to a disassemble and just do a spray on each side.

 

[Chapuunka]

Thanks for all the advice guys! I'm loving the FII. I'm hoping to try out an AV and a Haiyan Memory cube this summer from one of my friends up in Berkeley . Also, do you guys know how long the cubesmith stickers last? I know they're said to be the best without a doubt, but I'm wondering if I should buy a few sets since they're not that expensive.

To Jigaloo it properly, dissasemble and sweep is the way to go. Make sure you use like half of your can (not, but use a lot. 5 sweeps, maybe?) It takes a while to dry, but it's worth it. Don't wait 6 hrs and wipe of the remaining lube, it just won't be the same.

Is 5 sweeps a lot? I've watched a lot of videos and read a lot of stuff about the different silicone sprays and I heard that if you apply too much Jigaloo, it ends up slowing down the cube because it acts as a glue (from badmephisto's video). When I add the lube, I think I'm going to a disassemble and just do a spray on each side.

I wouldn't worry about disassembling it to lube it; just pop out 2-4 edges and spray in a decent amount of lube (2-3 short squirts), then work it in for at least 2 min. Let it dry for at least an hour, and you should be fine. It's not worth all the extra work to disassemble it.

Also, from my experience with the AV/Haiyan Memory, it's about the exact opposite feel of the FII, though an excellent cube.

 

[Erdos]

^Thanks. My FII seems to be popping about every 10 solves, which is maybe 3-4 times a day. Is this because I'm not used to it or because it's just too loose? Also, when I don't get a good grip on it, I often slip my hand and hit some sides while I do a algorithm or set of moves that requires me to change grip. Should/Can I take off the white center piece and adjust the tension? If so, what would the best way to take it out? It seems kind of hard to pry it off with your finger.

EDIT: By the way, I really appreciate the responses!
By the way, I've dropped it maybe 3 times already today (yes, I'm kind of clutzy) and everytime I drop it (about 2 feet high), the cube shatters and some edge pieces fall out. It feels and acts very delicately. Is this normal?

 

[ElderKingpin]

a trick pestvic used was that he completely tightened up the cube to the max on all sides.

After that he got a marked screwdriver (to show your turns) and turned each screw a quarter, eighth, half.. etc. And he checked to see if it popped at that looseness, when he reached the point when it popped, it turned it back a little bit, and said that was his sweet spot.

OFC, it could just be your style of cubing, try not to force cube too much, a cube should be handled delicately.

 

[Erdos]

Thanks a lot for the vid! I'm checking it out right now.

OFC, it could just be your style of cubing, try not to force cube too much, a cube should be handled delicately.

This is probably it. I've been used to a two year old Rubik's brand cube, which was really rigid so I always forced the turns for my finger tricks. Going from that to an FII is one of the biggest jumps.

 

[ElderKingpin]

i also loosened the F-II as much as i could, i can now reliably, and freely.. completely turn a corner around without dissembling the cube, i had to adjust my style a little bit, but it actually works great