Improving 4x4 "from scratch"

[stufkan]

Hallo fellow cubers!

I am quite new to 4x4, and want to improve. I have just made a time and the breakdown is as follows:

centers: 1 min
edges: 1:42 min
3x3: 1:23 min (my normal 3x3 avg is ~30)

As you see, this is not very good, and i have to improve at all 3 states.

For the edges i use the 6 edge method and my cube is (i think) an eastsheen (bought on puzl.co.uk, a comment said it was an ES)

It does not turn very good, can i lube it without having to open it? I have had it opened and it was not easy to assemble^^

What suggestions do you have for me to improve, other than practice? I know practice is important^^

 

[Ethan Rosen]

Here is my preferred way to lube it

Anyway, just practice, practice practice. I also recommend searching a bit about freeslice. It is extremely easy to grasp and saves a lot of time.

 

[Escher]

I suggest you turn smoothly and slowly, trying to minimise the pauses between each step.
You can easily improve centres down to around 30 seconds without much trouble. Try getting a fixed order. For example, I used to solve either yellow or white first (after fully planning it in inspection), then put yellow on L, and solve up the cube, green, purple, then blue + red. This instantly improved my centres from what I was originally trying, which was colour neutral.
Now I've learnt to solve the centres in any order, with either white or yellow on left/right, which I suggest you try and do after you are comfortable with a fixed order. Also, try to make each centre as optimal (few moves) as possible. I would guess that the first centre should only take around 5 moves, and the move count would slightly increase the more centres you solve. Just go through lots of scrambles, not solving for speed, just for few moves. I guarantee you'll find some funny little tricks
Like you've said, practice is key, but remember to practice lots of different ways. The last thing you want is for it to get boring.

For edges, I recommend that you try different edge pairing methods. Of course, it's all personal preference, but I think that 2 chain edge pairing is a bit easier for a newbie, as you can kind of 'solve what you see' - you aren't spending lots of time looking for pieces, as can be the case with 6 chain. I even used to use mostly one at a time, and got sub 2:00 with it.
Going as smoothly as possible is really your aim for dedges, as always, go slow and look ahead.

With the final solve, all I can suggest is that you look for the cross pieces during the last 2-4 dedges, so that the transition between dedges and cross isn't awful. Like with dedges, go slow and look ahead; fast, choppy turning is particularly difficult with ES brand cubes - smooth, accurate, calm turning is what you want.

You do not need to open it to lube it, just stick the straw in that should've come with it, or alternatively just turn the cube 1/8th and spray into the empty cubies and on the surfaces and repeat, working it in. You bought the cube from puzl - are you in the UK? 'Williamsons hardware' stocks 'tableau dry lube' which is good and very cheap, and maplin have their own brand.

Oh yeah, and practice your parity algorithms (and try and find a good OLL one - mine is Rw' U2 Lw F2 Lw' F2 Rw2 U2 Rw U2 Rw' U2 F2 Rw2 F2)

I bet that somebody else has already replied though, this took me a while to write :rolleyes:

 

[rjohnson_8ball]

Silicone ("shock") oil works okay for my ES 5x5 and 4x4 because somehow the liquid helps keep pieces from rattling and jamming. V-5 is way better for me than my ES 5x5, and my ES 4x4 is still my worst (due to jamming). I use a very thin coffee stirrer to apply drops of oil, but I believe a thin wire (or very thin paintbrush) would work better. I use something longer than a toothpick because my shock oil container is about twice as high.