Dash Lambda
Member
I was thinking recently, a lot of the cubes nowadays are made from ABS, which is relatively easy to manufacture with and pretty strong, but it isn't the strongest plastic. Some cubes use different plastics, and even very slight variances in material can change the feel of a cube dramatically. Aside from the obvious performance issues, one of the biggest reasons I hate my Rubik's brand speedcube (the 2.0 or whatever it's called) is the almost rubbery, horrible plastic.
Anyway, the thing I was wondering was how well different plastics would work for speedcubes.
Anything fiber-filled (glass-filled, CF-filled, etc.) obviously doesn't really have a place in speedcubes because wear resistance wouldn't be that much better and the cube would just be incredibly rough (or am I wrong?). Polycarbonate is generally pretty strong and has good wear resistance, but I don't think it stands up to flexing as well as other types of plastic.
I have no idea how each type of plastic would respond to different lubricants, though that makes me think of another property that's important, coefficient of friction. I wonder what type of plastic has the lowest friction...
I'm curious what you guys think the best material for a speedcube would be. I'm personally a bit lost.
Anyway, the thing I was wondering was how well different plastics would work for speedcubes.
Anything fiber-filled (glass-filled, CF-filled, etc.) obviously doesn't really have a place in speedcubes because wear resistance wouldn't be that much better and the cube would just be incredibly rough (or am I wrong?). Polycarbonate is generally pretty strong and has good wear resistance, but I don't think it stands up to flexing as well as other types of plastic.
I have no idea how each type of plastic would respond to different lubricants, though that makes me think of another property that's important, coefficient of friction. I wonder what type of plastic has the lowest friction...
I'm curious what you guys think the best material for a speedcube would be. I'm personally a bit lost.