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[destro]

i bought a white diy kit, and this is my first diy kit, so i was wondering...do you recommend sanding the pieces? if so, could you detail how? (as far as...where, and what type of sandpaper, etc.) and if not, why? are there advantages/disadvantages?
-Thanks!

[PuzzlePro]

I've never considered these DIY kits as candidates for sanding because they're so smooth as is.

The easiest way to make the kits even smoother is to apply the PuzzleProz cube lube.

The lube will give you noticeable results immediately, with little effort.

Question: Have you sanded down any cubes before?

I would love to get some threads going in the Speed Cubing category regarding cube sanding stories.

I have experimented with sanding (not the DIY kits) with some success, but sanding every edge of every cubie would be a daunting task.

It would great to figure out which parts need to be sanded to get the best "Band For Your Buck"

Thanks for the post.

[destro]

[PuzzlePro]

Ahh yes, I see now that you did indeed order the lube.

Good show, you will be very satisfied with it.

So did you sand your cube by hand?

I think if I was going to do it again, I would use a dremil.

I like seeing that you're an experimenter. I am also. Once I have written off a cube and replaced it, then I do all kinds of experiments on it.

Feel free to share any of your other experiments.

[whirlin_prop]

i sanded my new cube with good results.

using 220 grit and my finger, i sanded out all the casting lines left by the mold. it went pretty fast because most pieces needed only a few swipes and i only did what needed to get sanded.

my friend and i both noticed the improvement. tonight i lubed it and it is super smooth.

[PuzzlePro]

[whirlin_prop]

i did it on one of your white DIY's. the cube was smooth when i built it, but there was one little burr that bugged me so i just did a quick swipe with some fine grit paper and thought how nice it would be to get rid of all the casting lines. it was worth the effort.

i really like this white cube. i'll be putting the stickers on tomorrow.

btw, i got my cube yesterday. thanks for the fast shipping.

[PuzzlePro]

[Patric]

Let me start by stating that I have not attempted either of the techniques I am about to outline below. I have however have a lot of woodwork, metalwork, mechanical and handyman type experience.

Lets start with sanding. I think this is definitely one of the places where slow and steady is much better than fast and easy.Therefore I think that the finer grit sandpaper you use the better, right up to about 2000+ grit, or emery paper (what they use to sand down paint on a car before respraying it).

I also think that you should not sand your cubies holding the sandpaper in your hand, but rather wrap the sandpaper around a block of wood, or lay it on a flat surface, and move the cubie along it. This way you will get a much more even and flat finished surface.

You could even go as far as using polishing paper once you are done to get back that smooth glossy surface and remove that 'furry' sanded finish, eliminating any locking due to friction between rough cubies.

I believe that silicone lubricant of the type that PuzzleProz sells (the kind that dries to a waxy finish) is essential on sanded parts, as it will fill any remaining grooves or scratches left from the sanding.


The second technique I was considering was removing the mold-lines and inconsistencies by using a sharp knife tip to slowly scratch/scrape them away. Keep in mind that this would also need to be done very slowly so as not to leave deep gouges in the plastic.

I would recommend practicing this on scrap plastic of a similar type first, to test the effect and finish of the scraping, and get used to the pressure needed to get the desired result.

In my experience using a knife to scrape plastic leaves a nice smooth glossy finish if done correctly.

I will be attempting both these techniques as soon as I can get my hands on some cheap test cubes (Its really difficult to find ANY cubes here in South Africa - very frustrating...) but if you try this let us know how it works!

[o0goddess0o]

thanks for sharing about your findings, i hope you enjoy puzzleproz forums and items

ps. i am not the puzzlepro

[Patric]

Thanks o0goddess0o

Over the weekend another technique occurred to me.

This method outlined would be a great way to break in a new cube.

When jewelers finish up a piece of jewelry they normally polish it on a bench mounted polisher. This looks more or less like a bench grinder, except instead of the grinding wheel they have a polishing disc, which is a lot of pieces of cloth held together at the center. They put something called jewelers rouge on the polishing wheel to get that amazing smooth shiny finish. It is an extremely fine abrasive that normally comes in a solid red (not always red though) block. If you rub your finger over the block a fine red powder residue comes off - this is the abrasive polish.

It occurred to me that if you were to get some jewelers rouge, powder a bit of it, sprinkle/rub it in between the cubies on your cube, then go about your normal breaking in method, the rouge would polish the cubie sides to a much smoother and finer finish than just the plastic on plastic would.

Obviously when your cube feels right I would recommend disassembling and cleaning out the rouge, else you will continue to wear down the cubies. A bit of lube would probably do further wonders at this point too!

After some pondering I think that this would probably be one of the best methods of smoothing out your cube that I have read about so far, but I have yet to try it. I do not forsee any unwanted damage caused here, as is possible with sanding. If you try it let me know!

HTH
Patric

[dboeren]

They sell these foam blocks with different degrees of fine sandpaper-like stuff on each side for women's nails. My wife has one, and I can attest that they start out fairly fine and progress up to "mirror finish" on the final side of the block. I wonder if they are up to the task of doing hard plastic?

I expect to probably receive my DIY cubes and lube either today or tomorrow. If I notice any burrs I may give it a try and report back what happens.

[Patric]

I think a nail file like that would work perfectly, but it will suffer from the same problems as normal sandpaper, ie getting clogged up by the plastic, and while they will both do this, I think sheets of sandpaper would be cheaper to use than the nail files? Just a thought. I would get the wifes permission before using her nail file, she might just beat you if she has to get a new 1

[Dboy491]

i am brand new to this site, and this is my firat post. I first was turned to cubeing by a kid named max at the summer camp i work at. He is twelve, and he does the 4x4x4 in like 2 min. He tought me the basics, and now i am hooked.

The method of sanding i learned from him was to actually put sand in the cube before you lube it up. Assemble it, and solve it a few times. i have never tried this myself, but max had his own diy cube he was unable to lube before he came to camp, so it had sand still in it. when he cleaned it out, it worked suprisingly well, without lube. not fast, but smooth.

as for what type of sand, he just used fine sand from the waterfront. I had the idea that something like sugar or salt would work well to, as they are finer and more pure.

let me know what you think of my first post

[ranxen]

I sanded (with a nail filer) my store bought cube..I didn't notice any difference except for it making a real annoying sound when I turn it. IT goes away after a while

[brunson]

I've posted a pretty long description of the diffs between PuzzleProz cubes and the Rubik's DIY kits and one thing that's always bothered me is that I sanded the Rubik's kit.

I would definitely recommend against sanding PP cubes. The pieces are super slick out of the bag. Some of the pieces will have "flash" on them, which is the thin extrusions of plastic that creep out between the mold dies, but I highly recommend they be taken off with the dull backside of a scalpel or Xacto. Don't even use the sharp side to try to cut them off, just scrape with the sharp 90 degree angle of the back of the blade and you're set.

Before I built my Rubik's I had a couple of store bought cubes which needed close to six months of break in before being usable. After watching a YouTube vid of some guy recommending sanding, I figured it would be a good idea. The problem was scuffing the surface. One of my previous store boughts I used graphite on, which cut groves into the sides of the pieces. They eventually (nine months after stopping the graphite) wore mostly out, but that cube gets gummy when lubricated, which I think is because of the silicone drying in the barely visible grooves that haven't quite been worn out.

I just built my second PP cube last night and with some "back of the knife" flash removal and no break in, it's my fastest cube. I'm going to post some recommendations on tensioning when I get done here, but overall, I highly advise just putting the cube together and letting your first three dozen solves kill the flash rather than sand.

Just my opinion based on two cubes,
e.

[SkilfulPenguin]

I did the unthinkable...... I sanded every edge corner all the little piecies of the edge piecies everything, everything part of the cube is smooth as heck! it took me about 15 minutes to do it to my satisfaction. After i finished i realized there was a lot of like Cubie sand in the cubes instead of trying to manually clean it i did waht Clam Chowder said to i soak it in water and when i finished i couldnt see through the water thats how much sand came off then i dried it up and lubed it and wala! AMAZINGLY FAST however you may need to tightenyour cube because it been so fast will pop like crazy. So try it and see what happens. Sorry for the long post

[Cham Clowder]

:} Hah, told ya it'd work. I've done this to all my cubes and never had a bad result.

[LatexSpikes]

I pulled my Rubik's 4x4 out recently after it's been packed away for several years and started playing with it again. I noticed it turned with difficulty and decided to dismantle and clean it up a bit. I sanded (320 grit, flat surface) the inside faces that hadn't been perfectly put together in the first place (you could see the seams where the individual cubies were assembled), cleaned all the powdered plastic off by soaking in warm soapy water, rinsed and re-assembled. Wow, what a difference. Almost moved too fast, and wobbled a bit causing several locks and near pops. Tonight I picked up some silicon spray on my way home and popped a couple cubies out, sprayed and started working it in. The whole thing felt like it was ready to seize up. Very hard to turn, not like there was more friction but more like everything had to be perfectly aligned to move it. Dismantled it again, cleaned it up with soapy water and put it back together again. Back to the way it was before I lubed it, and I think I'll leave it as is until I can get some of PP's lube.

[lalalala]

for me when sanding my cubes (for 3x3) i would sand it down then jig a loo it to mkae if smooth again and i sould take a core i was not using like a type c core cause i replace all my cores with type a and that would usualy make it good.

[R.J.A._2008]

I sanded down one of my cubes core and it works excellent (a diy cube) with a nail file! then I sanded down an other DIY I have but then it was terrible. that was with a dremel though. I think the nail file will work good just on the core(like the edges of the centers)





open happiness,
R.J.