Maru 4x4 problem

[qwr]

Reliving the glory days of puzzle hardware from 2010?

It's funny, I bought this Maru 4x4 this year for like $1. I decided to take it out of my box of "vintage" puzzles to play with. My 4x4 from 2010 didn't even have the misalignment issue. (Maybe you can identify it: https://www.speedsolving.com/thread...ntification-thread.17946/page-86#post-1406795) The Maru 4x4 sucked back then.

 

[ender9994]

I had a different experience then you. I remember I purchased my first maru 4x4 along with a bottle of maru lube at U.S. Nationals 2010 and it instantly became my main. I might have some memory bias going on, but I remember it as being extremely quick, with catches that were jarring, but very brief. It would catch, but then quickly release and keep turning.

 

[MJS Cubing]

I disassembled mine completely and then put it back together and tightened it. Took over an hour (any puzzle larger than a 3x3 takes me a long time and a few rubber bands) but the problem is mostly fixed. There are still minor misalignments but no catastrophic complete misalignments.

Nice bump.

 

[qwr]

I had a different experience then you. I remember I purchased my first maru 4x4 along with a bottle of maru lube at U.S. Nationals 2010 and it instantly became my main. I might have some memory bias going on, but I remember it as being extremely quick, with catches that were jarring, but very brief. It would catch, but then quickly release and keep turning.

Yours was in the state mine is now. The core alignment mechanism is flawed but mostly works if the cube is tight and all the pieces are in place. However there is only a small area of contact that ensures the core is aligned. If you look at the picture of my unknown Chinese 4x4 from the puzzle identification thread, it has a huge block in the core that always ensures the core is aligned.

 

[ender9994]

Yours was in the state mine is now. The core alignment mechanism is flawed but mostly works if the cube is tight and all the pieces are in place. However there is only a small area of contact that ensures the core is aligned. If you look at the picture of my unknown Chinese 4x4 from the puzzle identification thread, it has a huge block in the core that always ensures the core is aligned.

Do you have pics from other side? The mechanism doesn't really look any different than the original eastsheen 4x4, and those were painted instead of stickered as well.