# Self-Lubricating Cube



## HowSuneIsNow (Nov 22, 2009)

In short: You stick a sponge soaked in lube in one of the edge pieces.

I've had an idea kicking around in my head for a while. I get new people into cubing casually and eventually the cube slows down. what if we could make a self lubricating cube that stays lubed at least three times longer if not more than a dozen.

I have come up with something elegant that seems to work and I will do my best to test it extensively and invite others to as well.

It only works on cubes with non-sealed edge pieces of cubes that you can remove the cap of.

supplies:
sponge
shock oil (I use 10wt)
scissors or a hobby knife (to cut the sponge)
Cut a a piece of the sponge to fit well (I will get back to this later) in the cavity of one of the edge pieces. lightly apply shock oil to the sponge without it being sopping wet. insert the sponge in an edge piece and start cubing.

The sponge will apply the lube directly to cubie surfaces. It also wipes excess lube off the surfaces so it doesn't get too slow while keeping the lube away from the core where it can slow down the cube.

as for cutting the sponge if you cut it too small it will flop around and not make contact with the other cubies. if you cut it too big it may cause extra friction. cut it bigger than you need because you can always make it smaller.

This is not the ultimate way to lube your speed cube. this is for casual cubers and your every day cube, your work horse. It's also something great you can do to a store baught.


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## Muesli (Nov 22, 2009)

Well, I don't know...

I think I'll stick to spraying Silicon into it every now and again. It takes less time to do.


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## HowSuneIsNow (Nov 22, 2009)

Musli4brekkies said:


> It takes less time to do.



Dude you cut a piece of sponge and lube the sponge _once_. If anything it takes less time.


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## Worker (Nov 22, 2009)

It seems like your over-complicating a simple thing.


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## Muesli (Nov 22, 2009)

HowSuneIsNow said:


> Musli4brekkies said:
> 
> 
> > It takes less time to do.
> ...


Edge out, shake can, lid off can, 3 sprays, lid on, edge in.

1 minute maximum, maybe once a month.


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## Edward (Nov 22, 2009)

I like the idea, but its not very practical.


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## 4Chan (Nov 22, 2009)

I like this idea~
I want to test it, before making a judgement.
If only I had shock oil to try it....


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## JLarsen (Nov 22, 2009)

I have shock oil, but I do consider myself above the "casual cuber" that this is intended for. I'm really, really picky with my hardware.


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## iSpinz (Nov 22, 2009)

Why shock oil?


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## HowSuneIsNow (Nov 23, 2009)

Cubes=Life said:


> I like this idea~
> I want to test it, before making a judgement.
> If only I had shock oil to try it....



do you use aerosol silicone? you can just spray out a bunch of that and soak it up with a sponge. you might get slightly different results than me.





iSpinz said:


> Why shock oil?


no particular reason. I also have jigaloo, but it seems to create waxy build up. I wanted something that would stay liquid. Really other liquids should work fine. the recent thread about shock oil had me thinking about it a lot and trying out some other experiments that were not as successful.


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## rachmaninovian (Nov 23, 2009)

have you tried it out before? :3

share with us your results after you have tried out, not make us your guinea pigs xD

actually I use both shock oil and silicone spray....depends on my mood.


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## HowSuneIsNow (Nov 23, 2009)

rachmaninovian said:


> have you tried it out before? :3
> 
> share with us your results after you have tried out, not make us your guinea pigs xD
> 
> actually I use both shock oil and silicone spray....depends on my mood.



I've been using this cube for the past 2 hours. It will probably take me a month of regular use to test it's limits.


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## hawkmp4 (Nov 23, 2009)

I don't know if it'd work with silicone spray. That's what I use- it dries.


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## panyan (Nov 23, 2009)

i have an idea similar to this, but cant be done without changing the type of plastic used for cubes: there is this plastic that "heals" itself be having, inside, small hollows filled with a chemical that, when reacts with air, melts the plastic a little so that when the plastic gets damaged, it heals the crack. If, instead of the melting fluid, we put in lube, as the cube wore in, it would release tiny amounts of this lube and would autolube the cube.


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## hawkmp4 (Nov 23, 2009)

panyan said:


> i have an idea similar to this, but cant be done without changing the type of plastic used for cubes: there is this plastic that "heals" itself be having, inside, small hollows filled with a chemical that, when reacts with air, melts the plastic a little so that when the plastic gets damaged, it heals the crack. If, instead of the melting fluid, we put in lube, as the cube wore in, it would release tiny amounts of this lube and would autolube the cube.



Erm. *scratches head*
And this will...save us time?


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## Inf3rn0 (Nov 23, 2009)

This just seems silly.


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## Meep (Nov 23, 2009)

This would be an okay general idea if lubing our cubes was some long and annoying process but like Musli4brekkies said, it only takes a minute if not less. =(


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## Edward (Nov 23, 2009)

Lubing my cube the standard way.
~40 sec and then a bit of working in.

Creating all these contraptions, AND keeping them maintained.
~A while.


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## hyunchoi98 (Nov 23, 2009)

I'll try this out on my cube!


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## HowSuneIsNow (Nov 23, 2009)

Edward said:


> Lubing my cube the standard way.
> ~40 sec and then a bit of working in.
> 
> Creating all these contraptions, AND keeping them maintained.
> ~A while.



spraying your cube takes multiple times builds up more product which slows down the cube. you then have to clean them and relube them.

the "contraption" you are talking about is a damp sponge. maintenance? the point is it creates LESS maintenance. you cut a sponge not too big not to small. you then wet it with lube. then you stop thinking and cube away. If you're liek me and you teach peopel to cube and they don't want to think about lubbing their cube this would be perfect. if you are someone that needs adults to hold the scissors for them this might be a little too advanced.


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## Meep (Nov 23, 2009)

The point is most people find that minute long spraying every month or so is close to effortless, and many feel that the build up is negligible.


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## Edward (Nov 23, 2009)

HowSuneIsNow said:


> Edward said:
> 
> 
> > Lubing my cube the standard way.
> ...


Cleaning out my cube is fun . And I only need to clean my cube once a month. Id probably have to replace the sponge before a month. But if you want to use it, more power to you. I just don't think its at all better than the standard lubing process.l


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## HowSuneIsNow (Nov 23, 2009)

Edward said:


> Cleaning out my cube is fun .



fair enough. I love cube maintenance as well that's why this occured to be. however i feel you and several others missed key points of my post.



Edward said:


> I only need to clean my cube once a month. Id probably have to replace the sponge before a month.


the hypothesis is this may last 3-12 times as long. The user doesn't replace the sponge ever.




Edward said:


> But if you want to use it, more power to you. I just don't think its at all better than the standard lubing process.


You're right. that's because it's not for people like you or me. ultimately I would like this to be inserted at a factory that makes assembled cubes. I came up with this idea for when I would teach someone to cube, give them a cueb and then when I see them in a month the cube would be slow right at the point where the user was getting good and would be ready to go fast. 

On a common sence basis a finely tuned cube will never be as good as a long term automatic process. I am testing this out to see if it works because it seems like an interesting idea. There is a reason the post isn't titled I found a better way to lube the cube than everyone is currently doing. that's because I don't think it is. this is a new idea that fdurfills a different need than your's or mine.


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## panyan (Nov 23, 2009)

HowSuneIsNow said:


> I am testing this out to see if it works because it seems like an interesting idea.



id love to see some quantitative tests between normal cubes and the sponge cubes


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## iSpinz (Nov 23, 2009)

Wouldn't this create alot of lube buildup? And what if it pops and the sponge flies out?


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## Zarxrax (Nov 23, 2009)

I have my doubts that this would last any longer. I would guess the lube in the sponge would dry up faster than lube on the plastic, and the sponge will just end up wiping off your lube and making it dry quicker.


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## HowSuneIsNow (Nov 24, 2009)

iSpinz said:


> Wouldn't this create alot of lube buildup? And what if it pops and the sponge flies out?



good questions

I am not experiencing a lot of build up so far.

If the sponge is cut right it won't fly out. mine stays in place even when held upside down and shaken .


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## Edward (Nov 24, 2009)

Now that someone has truly tried it I'm interested. Hows it working out for you so far?


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## HowSuneIsNow (Nov 24, 2009)

The questions are how is it worse and how is it better. Right now it's indistinguishable from a traditionally lubed cube which is a positive. I will really have to use it for a month where a normal cube would have slowed down to see if my hypothesis is correct.

Hopefully in a couple months I will be at a competition and can show you and others the cube and people can see how it feels.

If my results are positive I will likely try and hunt down someone with a cube solving robot and have them test out the cube and a control cube of the same make with the same kind of lube without the sponge and test both 24/7 and compare the cubes daily.

I think I might run into a problem where the plastic dust ends up in the sponge and slowing the process down.

I still doubt this will replace the way most of us lube our cubes. This wouldn't even work with my favorite type of cube, CII cubies x C4Y hardware. But this would be a really cool thing for a manufacturer to integrate into a pre-assembled cube.


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## blade740 (Nov 24, 2009)

I think the sponge will still dry out before that month is up.


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## Derrick Eide17 (Nov 24, 2009)

L


BT5


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## TioMario (Nov 24, 2009)

Sponges are for wiping your *arse* while taking a shower, why would you put one in your cube?


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## HowSuneIsNow (Nov 24, 2009)

TioMario said:


> Sponges are for wiping your *arse* while taking a shower, why would you put one in your cube?



thank you for this unsolicited glimpse into the local customs of Uruguay

I will indulge your premise. I suppose if it works in one place where the sun don't shine it might be useful in another, inside a cube.


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## HowSuneIsNow (Dec 7, 2009)

just a little update. it's 2 weeks later and it's still really slick (which would happen if it didn't have the sponge) the sponge is still slippery and damp. did anyone else actually try it out? how did it go?


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## nlCuber22 (Dec 7, 2009)

I may try it out but I don't feel like getting silicone all over my hands and smelling it for the next week...maybe later.


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