Puzzle Mod / Modding thread

Lagom said:
I've spent a lot of time on modding Zhanchis.
Cpm is useless
48pm makes it faster, especially slices. Great mod.

I came up with my own mod which is shaving down the sides of the center caps a bit to reduce friction, it makes it faster.
Click to expand...

If any mod is useless it's the 48pem on the zhanchi. There's so little there already, it hardly does anything. CPM, on the other hand, has a quite large effect. In my opinion, it's the single most beneficial mod on the zhanchi.
 
kclejeune said:
48PM has very little effect.. CPM is more effective. Corner mods are good too. But yeah you can use a nail file.
Click to expand...

That is not true. I bought several zhanchis, did a light cpm to one, and a rough (shaved off a lot) to another, then I did a blind test with those two and a non modded one... I could not tell which one was which.

Remove 2 corners and a middle piece, then rotate the layer. Note how every corner of the middle pieces touches the corners of the other middle pieces. That causes clicking and friction. When you rotate the middle layer the effect is twice as much.
48p mod on the zhanchi has nothing to do with the center pieces or cpm.

48p mod is definitely the most effective mod on the zhanchi, followed by the center cap mod. (remove the center caps and notice how much faster it is)
Note that it's only the very bottom of the middle pieces that needs modding. Maybe the last 3 millimeters or so.

I use a knife and scrape off the plastic, that way you don't get a rough surface as you would with a dremel /sand paper/file.
 
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Lagom said:
That is not true. I bought several zhanchis, did a light cpm to one, and a rough (shaved off a lot) to another, then I did a blind test with those two and a non modded one... I could not tell which one was which.

Remove 2 corners and a middle piece, then rotate the layer. Note how every corner of the middle pieces touches the corners of the other middle pieces. That causes clicking and friction. When you rotate the middle layer the effect is twice as much.
48p mod on the zhanchi has nothing to do with the center pieces or cpm.

48p mod is definitely the most effective mod on the zhanchi, followed by the center cap mod. (remove the center caps and notice how much faster it is)
Note that it's only the very bottom of the middle pieces that needs modding. Maybe the last 3 millimeters or so.

I use a knife and scrape off the plastic, that way you don't get a rough surface as you would with a dremel /sand paper/file.
Click to expand...

If it's any cube that the 48PEM is good for, it's the Guhong. The Zhanchi, Not so much.
 
Disassemble a used zhanchi, look at the very bottom of the middle pieces and notice how the corners has been worn down. And then guess why that has happened...
 
Username said:
If it's any cube that the 48PEM is good for, it's the Guhong. The Zhanchi, Not so much.
Click to expand...

Do you just say that cause the word has spread, or have you actually analyzed the cube and done the mod your self...?
 
Lagom said:
Disassemble a used zhanchi, look at the very bottom of the middle pieces and notice how the corners has been worn down. And then guess why that has happened...
Click to expand...

Lagom said:
Do you just say that cause the word has spread, or have you actually analyzed the cube and done the mod your self...?
Click to expand...


The 48PEM doesn't have any effect on the bottom of the center piece. I have a disassembled ZC in front of me right now... The 48PEM smoothens the contact between a corner and an edge.
 
Username said:
The 48PEM doesn't have any effect on the bottom of the center piece. I have a disassembled ZC in front of me right now... The 48PEM smoothens the contact between a corner and an edge.
Click to expand...

I know that. The bottom corner of the middle pieces touches the other corners of the middle pieces, you see that right?
 
Lagom said:
I know that. The bottom corner of the middle pieces touches the other corners of the middle pieces, you see that right?
Click to expand...

What is this middle piece you keep talking about? Plus, what's the "bottom corner" on a piece that is symmetrical? For the life of me, I don't even understand what you're trying to say here.

The 48 point edge mod does next to nothing on a zhanchi. The little edge that is smoothed out with the mod is already practically non-existent on the Zhanchi edge pieces. So if it's a mod that essentially just smooths out a the part of a cubie that is already smooth, how can it have a sizable effect at all? Compare that to the Guhong, where there is a sizable amount of plastic. This is why an unmodded Guhong is very clicky, while a Guhong with the 48PEM is not.

Your experiences are in direct contradiction to my experiences (and it appears, many others) when it comes to modding cubes. And yes, I've done all of these mods myself, in different combinations, in varying amounts. I have at least 8 Zhanchis, all with varying amounts of modding done to them, plus three Fangcuns, which are basically just Zhanchis with slightly different plastic. You must be doing a different mod than what is commonly referred to as the 48 point edge mod.

TheNextFeliks said:
For the florian get fitted stickers than mod to there lol.
Click to expand...

Using Florian cut stickers to inform how much plastic to remove is not an appropriate way to do the mod. Not only are the stickers not meant to be a guideline, but the majority of the plastic that is removed comes from the internal edges of the cubies. It isn't even visible from the outside of the cube. Cyoubx's tutorial is very good. I followed his tutorial and ended up with very good results.
 
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As far as I can tell he's referring to an edge piece, and he's not doing the traditional 48 PEM but rounding off the tips of the edge (the part that sticks under the center)

anyway I might take a look and see if it would work, but CPM definitely makes a huge difference. Maybe you're doing it wrong.
 
Michael Womack said:
How do you all like my SS 4x4 mod?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpk4le12C-k
Click to expand...

i think it looks terrible, like i told you on facebook. but you deleted my comment

edit: whoops, you didnt delete it

so, right in front of me, well in front of you actually youre seeing this 4x4 which you may be thinking what is it. looks like your modded but uh i personally dont think so. i posted picture of this 4x4 on facebook and i had mixed results of peoples opinion saying that it looks bad, overmodded and whatnot and that its unstable, you know pop a lot. technically it will not pop. look at how fast it is. sometimes when im doing this ill get corner twists like this but its not all the time and also. yup, see that, that turns good. turns really good. it turns really good really smooth and fast. and now ill show you a pieces if i can get one out. so basically i did the florian and konsta mod plus some extra stuff umm so can see down there the centre part has been rounded off then ill take um show you this piece. i rounded off this part and this part like you normally should and also sanded this part down there and then rounded off this part there some, because if you notice in there in the core like right around there theres a hook where these centre pieces um these pieces go under. what i thought would help a lot and it didnt help a little bit like when you when the um side or place is turning and this is going into the that groove like once you turn it, it goes into the groove and and it will not um catch it will make it slide easier into it, and i didnt sand off that much of it. then the for this piece, the normal konsta mod plus sanding this part down some and some and then well for the corner, i did the normal florian mod plus i also shaved off the bumps there and rounded off these 3 corner parts a little. for the edge rounded off like that like konsta mod florian mod and then rounded off this part. then and for the centres pieces, actually did the normal florian mod plus i rounded this part off this part and then this part and i stayed pretty constant about how much to sand off for each piece and it really looks a lot like my shengshou 5x5. this one is the contest one, so yeah. and ill have a solve right about now on how it really performs. 2:24.23 with music
summary: michael womack konsta/florian modded his 4x4 and sanded all the cubies into circles

i hope mods dont delete this. if they do, then TIL: never be helpful
 
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