# How to lubricate a new rubik's cube brand so it can cut corners?



## Rubenx96 (Oct 14, 2009)

2 days ago i bought a rubik's cube at vaughan mills and when i got home i quickly put silicone inside and i waited for 2 days and its still the same what do i do?:confused:


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## elcarc (Oct 14, 2009)

did you work it around?
mabye try dissembling and spraying all pieces.

unless you didnt put enough lube? what lube are you using?

details man


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## phases (Oct 14, 2009)

I'm not sure lube will help with cutting corners at all, will it?


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## elcarc (Oct 14, 2009)

phases said:


> I'm not sure lube will help with cutting corners at all, will it?



it helps slightly


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## Rubenx96 (Oct 14, 2009)

i solved it more than 20 times with the fridrich method. I think i put enough lube. And the lube name is *3 in one professional silicone lubricant*. its not famous so you could look it up


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## elcarc (Oct 14, 2009)

Rubenx96 said:


> i solved it more than 20 times with the fridrich method. I think i put enough lube. And the lube name is *3 in one professional silicone lubricant*. its not famous so you could look it up



well thats the problem, the lube your using sucks, get crc or jigaloo


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## Muesli (Oct 14, 2009)

You need to break in a cube and lubricate it for it to turn out any good. Play around with the cube for about a week and then use Silicon-spray for good results.


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## Rubenx96 (Oct 14, 2009)

thanks


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## phases (Oct 14, 2009)

You can try pestvic's 'how to break in a store bought' video.. it helps a bit. I followed that on mine, it worked pretty well. But in my experience you have to keep using the cube for it to keep cutting corners like it does post-break-in. My store bought is now my secondary and it seems to have relaxed back to pre-break-in, as far as cutting corners goes. 

(I thought there was a part 1 to that but I can't find it..)


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## elcarc (Oct 14, 2009)

phases said:


> You can try pestvic's 'how to break in a store bought' video.. it helps a bit. I followed that on mine, it worked pretty well. But in my experience you have to keep using the cube for it to keep cutting corners like it does post-break-in. My store bought is now my secondary and it seems to have relaxed back to pre-break-in, as far as cutting corners goes.
> 
> (I thought there was a part 1 to that but I can't find it..)



NO, IF YOU DO PESTVICS BREAK IN, ONLY DO IT ONCE, YOU WILL BREAK YOUR CUBE

ive broken like 5 or 6 cubes doing this. sure learned my lesson


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## phases (Oct 14, 2009)

elcarc said:


> phases said:
> 
> 
> > You can try pestvic's 'how to break in a store bought' video.. it helps a bit. I followed that on mine, it worked pretty well. But in my experience you have to keep using the cube for it to keep cutting corners like it does post-break-in. My store bought is now my secondary and it seems to have relaxed back to pre-break-in, as far as cutting corners goes.
> ...




I could certainly see how that could happen. I was real nervous doing mine even though in the end it worked out pretty well.. My bad though, I shall not recommend it anymore if it's the general consensus of the community that it's not worth the risk or just plain (too) bad for the cube.

Edit: Seriously though. 5 or 6? Didn't learn your lesson after say, 2?


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## Rubenx96 (Oct 14, 2009)

lol


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## Akuma (Oct 16, 2009)

I really do not understand this thread or people whose ambition to get a cube that can cut corners is so immense that they are willing to go ridiculous lengths to do it.

If you want a cube that can cut corners so well you are willing to sit for an hour or two stretching (and potentionally damaging) your store-bought cube for it to have the same kind of properties that of a decent DIY-cube - you should just get yourself a DIY-cube and get it over with.

Rubenx96 - even YOU live in Canada where the shipping from Cube4you and Rubiks.com to you isn't by any means expensive. You really have _no reason_ going these great lengths trying to modify and break a cube.

If my desire is getting a subaru, I won't go out and buy a Volvo and start ripping parts out for it to start looking like a subaru - I'll just go and buy the subaru to begin with.

There is little logic in all of this


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## elcarc (Oct 16, 2009)

Akuma said:


> I really do not understand this thread or people whose ambition to get a cube that can cut corners is so immense that they are willing to go ridiculous lengths to do it.
> 
> If you want a cube that can cut corners so well you are willing to sit for an hour or two stretching (and potentionally damaging) your store-bought cube for it to have the same kind of properties that of a decent DIY-cube - you should just get yourself a DIY-cube and get it over with.
> 
> ...



But you have to realize, maybe he doesn't have access to a diy. Maybe his parents are tight about the card, or they're like my parents and just dont like ordering off the net. If he is an adult, mabye money is restricted, and the only cube he has is a storebought (I remember the only cubes I've had were storeboughts until like 2 weeks ago.


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## phases (Oct 16, 2009)

There's nothing wrong with trying the free (or maybe 2 dollar) attempt at getting a cube you already have the way you want before spending a min of 4x that on some sort of non storebought (and that's me talking about the 7.99 shipping included ghost hand. Maybe you can get something cheaper.. You can sure spend far more ordering say.. a c4u speedcube. that's ~23 shipped.). Plus, it takes 3 days to however many weeks to even get them in, and you're taking the risk of whether or not you'll even like it. 

So what's 2 hours and 2 bucks? Don't hate, let 'em try it if he wants. He's been told the risks.



Spoiler



And by he, I mean whoever. I think this particular member either decided not to try it, or did and broke a cube.. judging by other posts he's made.


Spoiler



And by he, I mean he or she. The OP may actually be a she for all I know, I have no idea.


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## Muesli (Oct 16, 2009)

My cube doesn't cut corners very well at all. It locks up and is very loose too.

Luckily it is as smooth as a smoothed out smooth thing. 

If you try and turn in a more controlled fashion you don't really need a well cutting cube.


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## Akuma (Oct 16, 2009)

For starters, standard store-bought cubes here in Europe cost 25 USD - regular Rubiks.com branded non-DIY. Saying that a ~23 USD DIY cube including shipping is a lot of money is a damn near insult to anyone cubing in Europe. And to even add further insult to injury, shipping a DIY to Europe from any of those sites that have good DIYs is *A LOT* more expensive than getting them shipped to Canada.

You can buy cheap DIYs from DealExtreme for barely $5 shipping included. I bought 2 of them and they are great for the price.

If you parents can't assist you with a creditcard then find a friend that can.
You know what they say, if there is will; there is a way.

It still makes little sense to me trying this hard to get a good cube.
And to be fully honest - to me at least - solvetimes are identical regardless of whatever cube I use (as longas it is lubed well).
I tried 3 different cubes, both hollow and solid cubes and I get near identical averages.


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## phases (Oct 16, 2009)

Akuma said:


> For starters, standard store-bought cubes here in Europe cost 25 USD - regular Rubiks.com branded non-DIY. Saying that a ~23 USD DIY cube including shipping is a lot of money is a damn near insult to anyone cubing in Europe. And to even add further insult to injury, shipping a DIY to Europe from any of those sites that have good DIYs is *A LOT* more expensive than getting them shipped to Canada.




Wow, calm down there Akuma. Take "insult" if you want, but the OP is from Canada so I'd go out on a limb and say that my reply is relevant to him and your situation is a complete moot point to this discussion. I'm sorry that it cost so much for you, that sucks. But what I'm saying is it cost way less to take the free approach rather than it does to buy a new cube, so if they want to try it, go for it. The 'alot of money' thing was *in relation* to 7.99, or free. Besides, I said 'far more', not 'it's a lot of money'. As in, far more than 7.99 (or free!). Take that knot out of your panties and let's move on. I came here to offer some thoughts for the OP, not argue with you about your irrelevant individual situation.



Akuma said:


> It still makes little sense to me trying this hard to get a good cube. And to be fully honest - to me at least - solvetimes are identical regardless of whatever cube I use (as longas it is lubed well).
> I tried 3 different cubes, both hollow and solid cubes and I get near identical averages.




Now that's a much more valid point and actually worth putting into a reply. I was tempted to say that myself. In fact, I've nearly made a whole thread dedicated to that thought. The cube you use.. the corner cutting thing.. (and a couple other things people spend all their time trying to optimize) really is probably a very small part of how well you cube. Things like that are likely mostly relevant only to people with really fast averages who have to do everything they can to try to shave off time. Those of us sup1, or even me in the 40's... (or less? I dunno. I'm mid 40 so..) it really doesn't matter. We need to work on our skill far more than worry about the hardware.

In fact, there's some chance we can't even rightfully judge what IS the optimal hardware for our style until we get good enough to know what we need.

Edit: ..in light of this here chat, +1 to Musli4brekkies:



Musli4brekkies said:


> If you try and turn in a more controlled fashion you don't really need a well cutting cube.


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## vgbjason (Oct 17, 2009)

thrawst has a video saying to put sand instead of silicone in the cube and then work out every imperfection. then you clean out all the sand, work it in more, and lube it


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## Akuma (Oct 17, 2009)

Putting sand inside your cube will effectively destroy the core. Sand will get stuck between the screws and the springs inside the core and it will damage your cube.

A better approach to get rid of imperfection is by using sandpaper. Sandpaper down any bad plastic sticking out - however - I have yet to find one Rubiks-branded regular store-bought cube to be of such bad quality that it needs fixing in this manner. I've only stumbled upon cheap Chinese/Korean DIYs that need sandpapering.
Sandpapering imperfections will not result in cutting corners, but it will give you smoother slicing.


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## panyan (Oct 17, 2009)

phases said:


> elcarc said:
> 
> 
> > ive broken like 5 or 6 cubes doing this. sure learned my lesson
> ...



exactly dude, how did you manage to break so many cubes?


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