Rubik's Magnetic Cube prototype: centerpiece
I used some hardware store bought Duco Cement, and discovered an interesting phenomenon. At the end of the cylinder bored by the drill bit, the "crown" of the hole meets it at a sharp angle, a circle at the end of the cylinder. This creates a sort of fault line through which Duco Cement "blooms" outward. I didn't intend for this of course, and was quite surprised when I noticed it in this first piece. I'd like to make another cube now with a brand of clear glue that doesn't cause this problem in acrylic, so I can have a beautifully pure clear cube, but the effect remains intriguing, certainly. I'm going to put stickers on this cube, as it matches in size with a regular Rubik's Cube, and my second version will remain clear as a concept piece.
Later images show some real variety in the way the glue would eat conically outward through the plastic, eventually solidifying in place to refuse the plastic, but not before creating a refractive cone to diffuse the light.
Since I'm linking many images back to this one, I'll note here that another interesting thing occurred - this time not entirely unsuspected. Because the centerpiece needs to have outwardly matched magnetic polarities, like-poles face inward, meaning that all these powerful magnets repel each other. Often when I'd I put in a second piece, it would launch back out of the hole. In many subsequent attempts throughout the course of making the cube, a magnet would first launch out of the hole, then spin in place, and rocket back into the hole upside down. If I had a nickel-plated magnet for every time that happened, I could build a second cube. These things are a bit slippery and hard to hold on to. Add in powerful magnetic fields, and it's an extra challenge. Of course, any time a cube piece called for mixed polarities on its surface, it became extra easy to put in the magnet(s) the proper way.
Rubik's Magnetic Cube prototype: centerpiece
I used some hardware store bought Duco Cement, and discovered an interesting phenomenon. At the end of the cylinder bored by the drill bit, the "crown" of the hole meets it at a sharp angle, a circle at the end of the cylinder. This creates a sort of fault line through which Duco Cement "blooms" outward. I didn't intend for this of course, and was quite surprised when I noticed it in this first piece. I'd like to make another cube now with a brand of clear glue that doesn't cause this problem in acrylic, so I can have a beautifully pure clear cube, but the effect remains intriguing, certainly. I'm going to put stickers on this cube, as it matches in size with a regular Rubik's Cube, and my second version will remain clear as a concept piece.
Later images show some real variety in the way the glue would eat conically outward through the plastic, eventually solidifying in place to refuse the plastic, but not before creating a refractive cone to diffuse the light.
Since I'm linking many images back to this one, I'll note here that another interesting thing occurred - this time not entirely unsuspected. Because the centerpiece needs to have outwardly matched magnetic polarities, like-poles face inward, meaning that all these powerful magnets repel each other. Often when I'd I put in a second piece, it would launch back out of the hole. In many subsequent attempts throughout the course of making the cube, a magnet would first launch out of the hole, then spin in place, and rocket back into the hole upside down. If I had a nickel-plated magnet for every time that happened, I could build a second cube. These things are a bit slippery and hard to hold on to. Add in powerful magnetic fields, and it's an extra challenge. Of course, any time a cube piece called for mixed polarities on its surface, it became extra easy to put in the magnet(s) the proper way.