Just thought I'd share the outcome of my experiment at making a WuQue M, and a few tips I've worked out along the way, just in case anyone could benefit from them. If anyone wants me to do so, I can edit the guide and add images.
I used this video as a starting point:
But that's about it, my method diverged quite a bit. Here's what I did:
Stage 1: Edges first:
NOTE: a 4x4 cube has 8 edges of each colour. When edges are split in half, you will end up with one "left-handed" piece, one "right handed". What I mean by this is if you were to line up a corner piece, two edge pieces, and another corner piece (as below), one edge piece will sit on the right, with the corner piece on IT'S right. I'll call this one the "right-handed" piece, for ease of reference.
1.1: White edge pieces
Having dismantled my cube, I paired up two white half-edge pieces, and placed a single magnet inside both. I positioned them carefully using a cocktail stick, as these would form the template for all edge pieces. A single drop of superglue on each magnet and 30 second wait later, I separated the edge pieces and gave each a tap to ensure the magnet was stuck.
I then used each white half-edge to produce an additional 2 half-edges, taking care to remember which were the stuck magnets, which were the newly-placed magnet. Note: it's REALLY annoying trying to keep track of which edge pieces require gluing. Stick with this method, it gets much easier after this step!
Repeat with your 4 half-edges, using these as the template for the remaining 4 white half-edges. This is the last time you'll have to remember which magnets require gluing.
1.2: Remaining edge pieces
From here on in things become much easier. You have four "right-handed" white half-edges, four "left-handed". Pick any colour. I chose red.
Pair up four "right-handed" white edge pieces with four "left-handed" red half-edges, and vice versa. Carefully drop a magnet into each of the 8 red half-edges in turn, then put a single drop of superglue on each magnet. 30 seconds later you've done 1/3 of your edge piece! Note how much bl**dy easier it is when you know you only have to glue e.g. red edge pieces!
Now choose another 2 colours. I chose the opposites, so yellow and orange. Pair the 16 glued edge pieces with your 16 non-glued edge pieces. Drop and glue 16 magnets. 30 seconds later you've done 2/3 of your edge pieces.
Now you just have 2 colours remaining to do. Pair your 16 remaining non-glued edge pieces with any 16 of your glued edge pieces. Drop and glue the last 16 magnets. 30 seconds later you're done. Congrats!
2: Corners
This is where the right/left-handedness of edge pieces comes in to play. You want the polarity of both magnets in the right-hand edge to be the same. The easiest way to achieve this is as follows:
2.1: Creating a template with correct polarity
Take a white left-hand edge and a white right-hand edge and place them together. Place a white 1/3 corner piece to the right of this pair of edge pieces.
Take the right-hand edge and flip it over so the non-magnetised side is touching the left-hand edge. Drop a magnet into your corner piece. This will match the polarity with your edge correctly. Hold the magnet in your corner piece in place.
Flip the right-hand edge back over and hold it together with your corner piece (the one you're currently holding the magnet in place onto). Take another magnet and carefully drop it towards the right-hand side of your edge. It should snap onto the magnet in your corner piece.
Take a cocktail stick and carefully move the magnets into their desired position. Remember this will be the template for all corners, so take care to get it right. Drop a little glue on both when you're happy. After 30 seconds, separate and give them a tap to ensure the glue has done its job. To check the polarity, flip the right-hand edge back over and make sure you can join the three pieces together, regardless of which way up the right-hand edge is.
Congrats, that's 1/24th of your corners done!
Oh no, we're back in the situation of having to remember which pieces are stuck and which aren't! Never fear, work colour-by-colour and it'll soon pass.
This is the fiddliest part of the process - take care when dropping magnets into your right-hand edge pieces, because there's already a magnet in there (on the left-hand side).
Use your white right-hand edge piece and corner piece as a template to create another white right-hand edge and corner piece. Repeat this process and you've finished your white corners. Hooray!
2.2: remaining corners
Pick another colour. I chose red (again). Use your white right-hand edge pieces to create four red corner pieces. Use your white corner pieces to create four red right-hand edge pieces.
Repeat the process with another 2 colours.
Repeat the process with your remaining 2 colours.
3: Reassembly
Take care when reassembling. While it's not possible to connect edges the wrong way round, pay attention to your colours. You need to have one "right-handed" and one "left-handed" edge of each colour pair (i.e. one white/red; one white/blue...). It's easy to mess this up. I used a 3x3 for reference.
When you have all your edges and corners reassembled, remember that a magnetic 4x4 can hold itself together like a void cube. You can build a corner, then slot the internals in, making assembly much easier.
The whole process took me a little under 2 hours.
Choice of Magnets:
For the outer layers, I used 4x2 N35s. This is what I have in my DIY Valk M, and I think it's turned out very nicely. 3x3 stage is far more fluid, and I don't feel the magnets obstruct my turning in any way.
For the inners, I went for 3x2 N52s. These help hold the inner layers together, and prevent any unintentional movement. I was concerned about how it might affect parity execution and edge pairing, but it's actually made both easier, due to pretty much perfect alignment for every turn. You don't really notice the added resistance after a while.
Thoughts:
I've already set my PB Ao5 (1:05.xx), and only done about 20 solves on this cube. As a yardstick, my current timer session has over 1,000 4x4 solves in it. Is it fast? Maybe. It's more the added stability and control that make this cube fantastic.
The magnets and glue cost me a grand total of £8.13, and my WuQue cost about £17. That's a total of £25, vs. £46 ($60 US) for a Cubicle Labs WuQue M. As above, the labour took me less than 2 hours, and it was pretty fun.
Would I recommend doing this? Hell yeah - it's great fun, takes very little time, and results in a fantastic cube, providing you take a little care.
i saw those videos and i'm trying to figure out which comparable magnets (but i think lighter, from other opinions in this forum and in yt comment section) should i get from the stores i've available in my country.
((((( the corner pieces have a curved area that lifts the magnet in the edge piece.
