About a year ago T-Minus One oil, was announced here on this forum. It was the first and apparently still is the only commercially available perfluoropolyether (PFPE) oil specifically designed for cubers. At launch some cubers loved it, others said it was good on some brands but not others and a few just hated it outright.
I've been slowly tweaking the formula over the last few months taking notes on where it was found to be best and worst. While PFPE outperforms silicone oil it's a tricky beast to get right and is quite expensive. I'd like now to share some of my findings.
When it comes down to it what makes an ideal lubricant is a substance that reduces friction as much as possible. The most slippery substance known is wet ice on ice. If you could make a cube out of ice you'd find you could flick a layer and it would start freewheeling like a gyroscope! Anyway, that wouldn't be a desirable trait of a lube for speed cubing as it would be a nightmare to control. We want some friction, the ideal being that it would be almost effortless to turn a layer then stop on a dime the instant we stop applying pressure. Unfortunately, several things make this difficult or impossible.
At a microscopic level, the surface of the plastic cubies is dimpled and warped to resemble a mountain range with valleys. As these surfaces slide one over the other, the peaks on both sides collide adding resistance and, at the same time, shaving off some of those peaks in the form of plastic dust that then acts like sand in gears. As the speed of the turns increases the effect becomes more pronounced because the load pressure rises. Also, the energy of those peaks gouging into each other is partially dissipated as heat which increases warping and wear: your cubies wear unevenly and become less stable.
Comes lube to the rescue. By coating these peaks in a protective film less wear occurs and more of the heat is allowed to disperse over the lube rather than the plastic. A heavy lube, approaching grease, is preferred for the fastest spinning parts because it lasts longer and is better for dissimilar parts like metal and plastic. But it also has a downside in that its higher viscosity makes it less "lubey". If it's too viscous it will add resistance rather than lowering it giving you a gummed-up feel. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. A loosey-goosey cube can be brought under control this way, for example. But normally we want to make our cubes slipperier (slippy-rier?).
So let's just use a very light oil then, right? No, that has its disadvantages too. Mainly, low viscosity oil doesn't last long. It evaporates. Also, a cheap, lightweight oil isn't just a pain because you have to re-apply frequently. Chances are that its lower viscosity comes from adding short-chain petroleum distillates which dissolve plastic (think gasoline in a styrofoam cup) and degrade metal-on-plastic joints in the core mechanism. Silicone oils, being inert, do no damage to plastic or metal and for this reason are currently the most used type of lubrication by cubers. However, they still have the problem of drying up. To counteract evaporation cubers tend to use silicone oils of higher viscosities but then this comes at the expense of less speed as seen above. Worse, as the silicone dries it leaves behind cruddy films that get worse on every new application. This is partly due to impurities in commercial grade silicone oils but more importantly because it binds the plastic dust particles into a sludge that gets worse on each new application. And that trapped dust doesn't just slow you down, it acts like grit to abrade the surfaces. You can, of course, do a full strip down and clean but why the hassle if you can avoid it?
PFPE does silicone oil better in a couple of these key areas. For one, being manufactured for the aerospace industry and precision machinery the stuff is very, very pure. No need to worry about harmful additives. Next and most importantly, PFPE has a very low vapor pressure point. That means it stays wet longer than any other lubricant... meaning you don't need to reapply as often. Another reason is that, unlike silicone based oils, the dust and gunk that gets into the cube stays in suspension rather than turn to lube-sapping sludge.... meaning fewer, if any, full strip-and-clean sessions needed to get your cube back to full working condition. Finally, PFPE is essentially unaffected by swings in temperature. Once you get going the amount of friction felt throughout your moves will be very even. This is a difference that's been reported many times and is noticeable compared to a cube treated with another lube.
Asides from being more expensive than silicones, PFPE has a disadvantage in that it has higher "creep"; how easy it spreads. This is mostly because with lower viscosity you get lower surface tension. As already explained, lower viscosity = higher speed but comes at the cost that it dries out faster (in the case of silicone) and it gets into the core where a higher viscosity is preferable.
Another problem with PFPE is that it acts like a non-Newtonian fluid. Without getting too technical, the upshot is that "normal" lubricants act in a steady, predictable way. Non-Newtonian fluids have a Jekyll and Hyde character where they can act differently depending on the amount of stress applied or temperature, etc. In the case of cubes it exhibits what's called a shear thinning effect which is an unusual sensation where when you start moving a layer it seems to "stick" for a brief moment then it gets easy. Some people like this effect or get used to it but most, including me, find it distracting.
To counteract both creep and shear thinning I added another lubricant called molybdenum disulfide which is similar to graphite and a little mineral oil. In principle, the mixture should cut back on both but after much testing and feedback the optimal solution was to put the Moly directly on the core where it does a great job at both lubing the pins and springs and forming a barrier to keep the lighter oils out. To minimize shear thinning I spoke with a tech who provided me with a treatment method that finally did the trick. I'm now very proud of the hard work paying off in what I think is the ultimate cube lube. I hope you'll consider giving it a try.
It's on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/T-Minus-OneTM-Speed-Cube-PFPE/dp/B00T14SKCQ
And if you want the core grease too:
https://www.amazon.com/TORMENTOR-Core-GreaseTM-Molybdenum-Disulfide/dp/B01DCKHNPE
Sorry this turned into a wall of text. I hope I didn't bore you to death!
Rasiel
I've been slowly tweaking the formula over the last few months taking notes on where it was found to be best and worst. While PFPE outperforms silicone oil it's a tricky beast to get right and is quite expensive. I'd like now to share some of my findings.
When it comes down to it what makes an ideal lubricant is a substance that reduces friction as much as possible. The most slippery substance known is wet ice on ice. If you could make a cube out of ice you'd find you could flick a layer and it would start freewheeling like a gyroscope! Anyway, that wouldn't be a desirable trait of a lube for speed cubing as it would be a nightmare to control. We want some friction, the ideal being that it would be almost effortless to turn a layer then stop on a dime the instant we stop applying pressure. Unfortunately, several things make this difficult or impossible.
At a microscopic level, the surface of the plastic cubies is dimpled and warped to resemble a mountain range with valleys. As these surfaces slide one over the other, the peaks on both sides collide adding resistance and, at the same time, shaving off some of those peaks in the form of plastic dust that then acts like sand in gears. As the speed of the turns increases the effect becomes more pronounced because the load pressure rises. Also, the energy of those peaks gouging into each other is partially dissipated as heat which increases warping and wear: your cubies wear unevenly and become less stable.
Comes lube to the rescue. By coating these peaks in a protective film less wear occurs and more of the heat is allowed to disperse over the lube rather than the plastic. A heavy lube, approaching grease, is preferred for the fastest spinning parts because it lasts longer and is better for dissimilar parts like metal and plastic. But it also has a downside in that its higher viscosity makes it less "lubey". If it's too viscous it will add resistance rather than lowering it giving you a gummed-up feel. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. A loosey-goosey cube can be brought under control this way, for example. But normally we want to make our cubes slipperier (slippy-rier?).
So let's just use a very light oil then, right? No, that has its disadvantages too. Mainly, low viscosity oil doesn't last long. It evaporates. Also, a cheap, lightweight oil isn't just a pain because you have to re-apply frequently. Chances are that its lower viscosity comes from adding short-chain petroleum distillates which dissolve plastic (think gasoline in a styrofoam cup) and degrade metal-on-plastic joints in the core mechanism. Silicone oils, being inert, do no damage to plastic or metal and for this reason are currently the most used type of lubrication by cubers. However, they still have the problem of drying up. To counteract evaporation cubers tend to use silicone oils of higher viscosities but then this comes at the expense of less speed as seen above. Worse, as the silicone dries it leaves behind cruddy films that get worse on every new application. This is partly due to impurities in commercial grade silicone oils but more importantly because it binds the plastic dust particles into a sludge that gets worse on each new application. And that trapped dust doesn't just slow you down, it acts like grit to abrade the surfaces. You can, of course, do a full strip down and clean but why the hassle if you can avoid it?
PFPE does silicone oil better in a couple of these key areas. For one, being manufactured for the aerospace industry and precision machinery the stuff is very, very pure. No need to worry about harmful additives. Next and most importantly, PFPE has a very low vapor pressure point. That means it stays wet longer than any other lubricant... meaning you don't need to reapply as often. Another reason is that, unlike silicone based oils, the dust and gunk that gets into the cube stays in suspension rather than turn to lube-sapping sludge.... meaning fewer, if any, full strip-and-clean sessions needed to get your cube back to full working condition. Finally, PFPE is essentially unaffected by swings in temperature. Once you get going the amount of friction felt throughout your moves will be very even. This is a difference that's been reported many times and is noticeable compared to a cube treated with another lube.
Asides from being more expensive than silicones, PFPE has a disadvantage in that it has higher "creep"; how easy it spreads. This is mostly because with lower viscosity you get lower surface tension. As already explained, lower viscosity = higher speed but comes at the cost that it dries out faster (in the case of silicone) and it gets into the core where a higher viscosity is preferable.
Another problem with PFPE is that it acts like a non-Newtonian fluid. Without getting too technical, the upshot is that "normal" lubricants act in a steady, predictable way. Non-Newtonian fluids have a Jekyll and Hyde character where they can act differently depending on the amount of stress applied or temperature, etc. In the case of cubes it exhibits what's called a shear thinning effect which is an unusual sensation where when you start moving a layer it seems to "stick" for a brief moment then it gets easy. Some people like this effect or get used to it but most, including me, find it distracting.
To counteract both creep and shear thinning I added another lubricant called molybdenum disulfide which is similar to graphite and a little mineral oil. In principle, the mixture should cut back on both but after much testing and feedback the optimal solution was to put the Moly directly on the core where it does a great job at both lubing the pins and springs and forming a barrier to keep the lighter oils out. To minimize shear thinning I spoke with a tech who provided me with a treatment method that finally did the trick. I'm now very proud of the hard work paying off in what I think is the ultimate cube lube. I hope you'll consider giving it a try.
It's on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/T-Minus-OneTM-Speed-Cube-PFPE/dp/B00T14SKCQ
And if you want the core grease too:
https://www.amazon.com/TORMENTOR-Core-GreaseTM-Molybdenum-Disulfide/dp/B01DCKHNPE
Sorry this turned into a wall of text. I hope I didn't bore you to death!
Rasiel
