From cube-lovers-errors@curry.epilogue.com Thu Nov 28 13:10:28 1996 Return-Path: cube-lovers-errors@curry.epilogue.com Received: from curry.epilogue.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by curry.epilogue.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) with SMTP id NAA18263; Thu, 28 Nov 1996 13:10:28 -0500 Precedence: bulk Errors-To: cube-lovers-errors@curry.epilogue.com Date: Thu, 28 Nov 1996 11:51:48 -0500 (EST) From: Nicholas Bodley To: cube-lovers@ai.mit.edu Subject: Lubricants for puzzles Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII My apologies in advance if this is a repeated topic; it hasn't appeared recently, at least. Question is: What is a really good lubricant for plastic puzzles (such as the classic Cube) with moving parts? What's good for metal machinery isn't necessarily good for plastics; there is even a risk that some additives in metal lubricants would dissolve or etch some plastics. A liquid, probably with a benign solvent to distribute it, would be desirable. Powdered (or colloidal?) PTFE ("Teflon", a Du Pont TM in the USA) particles or flakes should help a good bit. A "carrier" grease (which might as well be a lubricant) would keep any particles in place. Molybdenum disulfide might be good, but might also tend to stain hands and clothing. Some waxes might work. Powdered graphite would probably work loose and make a mess. Lubricants that stain clothing aren't welcome, either! The lubricant must also be benign toward metal, because the Cube is held together with metal screws and tensioned by springs. I suspect that someone, somewhere, knows about a commercial (proprietary) formulation that meets most or all of these criteria. (I would not recommend WD-40, by the way; I expect it would evaporate after some months. It has its place, but I don't think it's a good plastic lubricant.) About 10 years ago, I found such a product, and lubricated some of my puzzles with it, with good success, but then a major personal crisis came, and I lost track of what it was... I'll try to summarize, if any significant number of replies comes by... Thanks in advance, and best regards! |* Nicholas Bodley *|* Electronic Technician {*} Autodidact & Polymath |* Waltham, Mass. *|* ----------------------------------------------- |* nbodley@tiac.net *|* When the year 2000 begins, we'll celebrate |* Amateur musician *|* the 2000th anniversary of the year 1 B.C.E. --------------------------------------------------------------------------