View allAll Photos Tagged rubikcube
The previous pic explains this messy drill hole. Thankfully lthis was just a test piece, and good thing I decided to test the drilling up front.
Moving the cubes out to 2x their normal displacements, while still invisible, creates this exploded view of the magnets and their polarities.
That's one of the 125 3/16"x3/16" D32 neodymium magnet from K&J Magnetics on the 3/16" bit with 3/16" stop wrenched onto it. I wanted just a hair deeper of a cylindrical hole than the magnet, so they would all sit slightly below the level of the face of each acrylic cube. I used the magnet to line up visually the depth of the stop here. This didn't work as I hoped, for reasons explained in the next pic.
Magic has happened, and there are official Rubik's stickers on my prototype acrylic magnetocube. Now it feels like something.
quot;RITMI URBANI"
Visu'all art exhibiont (solo exhibition) c/o Maud Roma (7/3/08-20/3/08)
66x66 roma 2008
rubikcubism mosaic
The magnetic nature of the cube lends itself to a bit of flexibility. You can wiggle it back and forth like a piece of taffy.
emoticon made with rubik cubes.
i dont have so many cubes (i have only one).
so, it is different pictures of the same cube merging in photoshop.
"RITMI URBANI"
Visu'all art exhibiont (solo exhibition) c/o Maud Roma (7/3/08-20/3/08)
2x(33x33) roma 2008
rubikcubism mosaic
work in progress
With the drill press and its built-in stop configured for drilling perfectly centered holes (eyeballed) at the right depth (also eyeballed), I began work in earnest. This is the centerpiece that holdes the 6 center face pieces to the middle. This is what in a real Rubik's Cube would be the center jack. Instead of screws through springs, my version will use powerful D32 neodymium magnets from K&J Magnetics.
I used my flat panel monitor with an all-white image made full screen in ACDSee as a nice big area light by which to work (and light the pics in these sets). This was my view inserting glue into each hole. It's hard working with the Duco metal tube. If you don't squeeze it right, it doesn't retract and suck the excess back in. I had a number of times where I did things wrong, and ended up spilling giant globs of glue out of the tip when I pulled it back out of the cube. What a mess.
I got a much better hole when I went more slowly, in repeated short in-out strokes with the drill press. This allowed the bit to keep cooling, and for the plastic spirals to clear out of the flute. Still, when the stop hit the acrylic, it dug a ring around the hole with which I wasn't too thrilled.
I remembered finally that my drill press has a threaded stop with 2 nuts on it, so I could set the depth of the holes. I stuck one of the D32 magnets to the bit, such that the top was where I wanted the top of the drill to stop boring into the acrylic cube, actuated the press to put the bit next to the cube to where I could eyeball the depth by way of that magnet, and then threaded the 2 nuts down to the stop mark. I made a test drill this way, without the wrench-on drill stop, and the hole depth was perfect, the hole itself clean as could be. My depth stop on the press is kinda flimsy, so it isn't super repeatable, so all 108 of my hole depths were a wee bit off, but I got the feel of it pretty quickly, and erred on the short side, testing each hole with a magnet before going deeper if need be.
previous shot with the cubes made visible, and set to x-ray mode
Now that you've carefully viewed and read the descriptions on each of the 65 images of this set :), you can check out the 90+ images of the set wherein the magnetic cube prototype is completed with its newly arrived magnets.
Here's a little trick for figuring out the polarities on a complex set of interconnects like those required by this project. I don't know which is N and which is S, but I lined up the magnets in one long rod, and drew a black dot on one end, peeled that magnet off, drew another, and so on until every magnet had a black dot on what we'll call the negative side, not that it matters.
From left to right: the crappy drill-stop hole - the more patient drill stop hole - the perfect drill press stop hole. This test cube served its purpose well.
© RajRem Photography, 2009. All rights reserved.
All of my photographs are Copyrighted and All Rights Reserved. They may not be used or reproduced publicly in any way without my permission.
i met luís at the skatepark, he solves the rubik's cube in less than one minute. and he just did it several times for me to believe him aha.
raquel fialho 2009
This is another view of the magnets layout - essentially, wherever two cubes touch, each needs a centered magnet. That works out to 108 magnets between the 27 cubes.
Another ill effect of the Duco Cement is that it instantly murks up the surface of the cube, and as it's impossible to spread the right amount of cement inside the holes, a bit extra was always needed, and then a slow, firm pushing in of the magnet, which would always expell cement up around one or more sides of the magnet, which then had to be wiped off, which like alien acid blood, always injured the face of the cubes. It really did weld the magnets in place in just a few seconds, though, keeping them in even when their polarities were matched, meaning when their like-polarities kept them pushing outward from each other.
This was how I inserted most magnets - push the rod in, taking great care to note the polarity of the magnets, as I would not be able to extract them. The Duco Cement already lining the hole kept me from pushing the rod in very far, and then I'd shear it off to leave the magnet glooped in place. Then I'd set the cube down on my desk and press with my fingernails very hard until finally the seal broke, and cement rushed up around the edges of the magnet. It's a very very tight fit, and the glue actually created a kind of vaccuum seal holding the magnets firmly in place while they dried, even against the firm push of other magnets in other holes with polarities conflicting.
One whole face done, at least for the interconnects between that face. In the foreground, the centerpiece clings tenaciously.
more of the glue blooms I spoke of here - you can see the Duco Cement what caused these blooms in the background
All magnets for the center piece are in place in this shot.
Applying green labels to the cube. These are Rubik's brand PVC labels - the only good ones IMNSHO. The other kind they sell get air bubbles under them in a day or two, and then it's just a matter of time before they're peeling off and crumbling to the floor. I debated whether or not to put the labels on this cube, or just leave it all crystalline, but spinning clear cubes is only fun for so long. I'll probably get around to building another of these anyway, so it's no big deal that I hide my sloppy first-gen work under some nice, machined labels.
The 6 edge pieces have their central axle magnets in place, and with the center piece's 6 magnets in place, I can finally start to see some things taking shape. I really would like a workshop of some sort, especially if its in my own house. I'm in a small apartment, and could only drill a few pieces a day very late after work. I didn't want to keep drilling for a full hour with an upstairs neighbor at 11pm. It just wouldn't be fair to them. So, I did a handful of cubes a day from about 9-10pm, and just had to settle for the whole process taking about 3 days total. It should have all taken under 3 hours total, and added up, it did.