From ncramer@bbn.com Sat Jan 15 09:22:26 1994 Return-Path: Received: from LABS-N.BBN.COM by life.ai.mit.edu (4.1/AI-4.10) for /com/archive/cube-lovers id AA03599; Sat, 15 Jan 94 09:22:26 EST Message-Id: <9401151422.AA03599@life.ai.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 15 Jan 94 9:12:37 EST From: Nichael Cramer To: CRSO.Cube@canrem.com Cc: cube-lovers@life.ai.mit.edu Subject: Re: Higher Order Cubes >Subject: Higher Order Cubes >From: Mark Longridge >Date: Fri, 14 Jan 1994 21:59:00 -0500 > >A well lubed 4x4x4 cube is still relatively easy to physically >manipulate. As der Mouse suggests, it is arguably the largest >interesting cube from a solver's point of view. Once one starts >actually twisting with a 5x5x5 cube, the physical problems >become more severe, e.g. the stickers come off easier, >turning the slice you want to is more of a challenge, etc. This is interesting, because it's almost exactly the opposite of my experience. The problem seems to be the difference between the internal mechanisms of the odd- and even- ordered cubes. The 3X and 5X have that "fixed" center piece attached to the core whereas the center face cubelets of the 4X are held together "under tension". My experience has been that this adjustment is critical, but often out of whack. As a consequence, of the four 4X's I've owned, only one was really useable; two were so stiff they were very difficult to turn (even with lubrication) and one was so loose that it never lasted more than about 20 minutes before dissolving into a pile of cubelets (it currently lives in a sack in my office drawer). These were all real "brand-named" cubes, not cheap twiz-o knock-offs. On the other hand all of the 5X's I've owned have been _very_ easy to turn without any special customization. Except for the tendency (as Mark mentions) for the stickers to come off of one of them, they're consistently more comfortable to the hand than any of the 3X's I've owned. Nichael ncramer@bbn.com -- Captain and left quarter guard, BBN Calvinball Team