[Help Thread] Lubrication Thread

[qwertycuber]

ok, help me out here. I have read many reviews, posts, etc., where people say they have, or will, ad lube to SLOW a cube down, or "gum it up a little". This does not make sense to me, can anyone illuminate?

It is just like this:
Swimming in water is easy, but swimming in thick syrup is difficult

 

[Sergey]

An interesting observation: I totally cleaned up 3x3 cube and lube the core only (with 60k, screws and washers, a little). After about 10-20 solves, I began to feel some increasing gumminess. The cause of this - lube from the core began to spread over the internal parts, because of gaps between the screws and the center pieces, the silicone lube properties itself and of course the construction of the particular cube.

 

[Ethos]

Hey there... I am fairly new to cubing(started on 26/12/17) and I recently bought a Gan 365 Air SM, along with some Maru Lubricant. I gotta say I love this puzzle, no doubt. It dropped my times a lot from averaging 50 seconds to averaging 37-40 seconds.

I lubricated it with Maru, waited for it to evaporate to form a sillicone layer and... it made the puzzle turn even better than before... However, today I noticed that the turning is really sluggish and when I took apart the puzzle I noticed that the metal parts of the core have rust on them? I think it may be from the Maru lubricant, and I am not so sure about using it anymore, any suggestions?

 

[maxcuber322]

I don't know about the maru lube thing, but it could be the humidity of your area.

 

[THERAGINGCYCLOPS]

Maru= water based lube
Water on metal rusts out the metal
No wonder your core rusted.
Only place silicone oil on the core.
You might have to get a new core.

 

[Ethos]

Oh okay... Thanks...

 

[T4underbolt]

Hello. I recently came back to speedcubing. Currently I am unable to order through the internet for a week or two but in the nearest car shop I have found a silicone spray of a brand K2. Ive been using it in the past, but not that much. It was smoothing the cube movements significantly. Though I read that silicone sprays can eat plastic. On that particular product there is a description that says it can be used for plastic and moving parts. It creates a thin, transparent sliding surface. Does anyone have greater experience with it? Or should I wait untill I can order the actual lube like lubix etc?

 

[Duncan Bannon]

Hello. I recently came back to speedcubing. Currently I am unable to order through the internet for a week or two but in the nearest car shop I have found a silicone spray of a brand K2. Ive been using it in the past, but not that much. It was smoothing the cube movements significantly. Though I read that silicone sprays can eat plastic. On that particular product there is a description that says it can be used for plastic and moving parts. It creates a thin, transparent sliding surface. Does anyone have greater experience with it? Or should I wait untill I can order the actual lube like lubix etc?

Not to answer your question. But Lubix isn’t a thing now. Most people use Traxxas 10,30,50k or cubicle weight/SCS weight lube. Also DNM/Martian for speeding puzzles up. Traxxas is a great choice.

 

[DogBroCuber]

Hey Guys. Even though I only average 20 seconds I use a gan air ultimate. I made a big mistake of buying it when I used to average just less than a minute. Since my only other 3x3s are a mofangjiaoshi mf3rs and a Rubik’s brand I use it as my main. However no matter how well I lubricate it and how many ever methods I use for lubrication, it never turns out as good as ones I’ve tried in competitions (I can’t access lubricants from the cubicle cuz I don’t think they deliver to my place and same goes for all the cubers whose cubes I’ve tried in comp)I usually use weight 3 and bans standard lube but it doesn’t seem to work well all the time and instead of making the cube quieter it’s makes it louder. Does anyone have a solution?

 

[lilKriT]

Hello,
I apologize if my question is stupid. I will try to keep it short:

I have a Weipo which worked perfectly smooth out of the box. Because of that, I didn't bother getting lube yet. Then I decided to try Wuxia M, and it has this scratchy feeling. I solved it few times just to check it out, and it's still reeeeeally good, probably even better than the Weipo, but I am anxious of using it now. I don't have any lube at my place, the soonest I can get some will be on tuesday. I don't know if the Wuxia M is naturally scratchy or it needs some breaking in? I am scared of doing damage to the cube by solving it without any lube.

Similar question goes to my Valk 3. Even out of the box it was the best cube I ever had in my hands, but after around 1000 solves (according to twisty timer) it seems to slow down just a bit. Question is the same, is there a risk of damaging the cube if I use it without lube?

TLDR:
Can the cube get damaged if you use it without lube? If yes, how long would it take?

 

[Mastercuber04]

Can the cube get damaged if you use it without lube? If yes, how long would it take?

I dont think cubes are designed to be used with lube. As far as i know lube can improve performance, but the lack of it will not damage the cube.

The cube is not made to be with lube,
Lube is made to be with cubes

 

[lilKriT]

I dont think cubes are designed to be used with lube. As far as i know lube can improve performance, but the lack of it will not damage the cube.

The cube is not made to be with lube,
Lube is made to be with cubes

Wow, I didn't expect such a quick answer, thank you
So what do you think about the scratchy feeling? Is it something normal / to be broken in?
I can use the cubes until my lubes arrive?

I would be grateful for others opinions too!

 

[Thom S.]

Can the cube get damaged if you use it without lube? If yes, how long would it take?

Cubes don't need lube. It's completely a performance enhancer. That's why performance goes down without it.

 

[Mastercuber04]

Can the cube get damaged if you use it without lube? If yes, how long would it take?

Most cubes usualy feel realy smooth out of the box because it has been sitting in the stock lube for who knows how long
When it begins to get turned the stock lube is worked in more and it becomes a bit crunchier and scratchier, putting new lube in may fix this

 

[Darja]

Can the cube get damaged if you use it without lube? If yes, how long would it take?

Solving cubes without lube does cause wear on the surface of the pieces as a result of friction. It makes the plastic less rough on the surface and cause a smoother feel but will not "break" the pieces. This will also happen when you use lube, but to a lesser extent. The scratchy feeling when you first turn the cube is the lack of wear on the surface.

 

[lilKriT]

Solving cubes without lube does cause wear on the surface of the pieces as a result of friction. It makes the plastic less rough on the surface and cause a smoother feel but will not "break" the pieces. This will also happen when you use lube, but to a lesser extent. The scratchy feeling when you first turn the cube is the lack of wear on the surface.

Darja, so in other words using the cube without lube will make it smoother faster thus improving it?

Sweet. Thank you everyone for the responses. Maybe I'm being too careful, but I'm from Poland where getting good cubes can be an inconvenience so I want to make my last as long as possible.

 

[Thom S.]

Darja, so in other words using the cube without lube will make it smoother faster thus improving it?

Sweet. Thank you everyone for the responses. Maybe I'm being too careful, but I'm from Poland where getting good cubes can be an inconvenience so I want to make my last as long as possible.

That's not the complete truth. There is this process called 'Breaking In' which describes the first couple of hundreds of solves where you grind down plastic to your turning style, you can say that this is improving it but it doesnt matter as much anymore in never cubes as it did some years ago.

For Poland I recommend looking into chinese puzzle stores as it's more convenient than US based stores

 

[ShortPanda]

Is wiping out the lube before relubing very important? If it is what happens if I don’t wipe out the lube?

 

[RedJack22]

Is wiping out the lube before relubing very important? If it is what happens if I don’t wipe out the lube?

Hmm. I think it's probably better to wipe out the old lube, but it probably won't be detrimental if you don't. I haven't had any problems with putting SCS Cosmic Lube in a cube with old lube, but most of the time I'll wipe the cube out when used weighted silicone lube. Hopefully that helps!

 

[lilKriT]

I remember the "old" cubes myself. I even had some rubiks brands so I understand totally.

And don't worry, we can get the good stuff in Poland - we have shops that import from China, so the shipping time and price is better than straight from China, and that's what I do. But sometimes the choice isn't that good and the supply can be limited :/

That's not the complete truth. There is this process called 'Breaking In' which describes the first couple of hundreds of solves where you grind down plastic to your turning style, you can say that this is improving it but it doesnt matter as much anymore in never cubes as it did some years ago.

For Poland I recommend looking into chinese puzzle stores as it's more convenient than US based stores