From cube-lovers-errors@mc.lcs.mit.edu Tue Mar 16 20:35:46 1999 Return-Path: Received: from sun28.aic.nrl.navy.mil (sun28.aic.nrl.navy.mil [132.250.84.38]) by mc.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1a/8.9.1-mod) with SMTP id UAA04946 for ; Tue, 16 Mar 1999 20:35:46 -0500 (EST) Precedence: bulk Errors-To: cube-lovers-errors@mc.lcs.mit.edu Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 05:14:55 -0500 (EST) From: Nicholas Bodley To: Cube Mailing List Subject: Taking apart the 5^3 Message-Id: As nearly as I can remember, you can begin dismantling one of these by rotating the top slice by maybe 30 degrees or so, then prying upward on one of the "wing" cubies (between the center and the corner cubies). Use your thumb, nail side down, and lift. Experiment with different amounts of rotation; you'll find a position where the "wing" cubie's "foot" will push aside many others. Once it's disengaged, life becomes easier. This method, if you choose the proper cubie to pry, and align it properly with the "loosest" neighbor below it, is harmless. Just possible that I'm suggesting the wrong cubie to pry, but iirc, the center cubies are more directly held than the "wings". Believe me, the insides of a 5^3 are utterly amazing. The scheme used for the 3^3 can't hold a 5^3 together unaided; the mechanism is an extension of that in the 5^3, but has an additional set of retaining surfaces, generally spherical in their geometry. The shape of a "foot" on a corner cubie is something to behold; it could be a bit of a challenge to define it in a CAD program. As I've said before, don't even think of allowing your cat to watch the process! Sorting the pieces for reassembly is part of the fun. |* Nicholas Bodley *|* Autodidact & Polymath * Electronic Tech. (ret.) |* Waltham, Mass. *|* ----------------------------------------------- |* nbodley@tiac.net *|* |* Amateur musician *|* --------------------------------------------------------------------------