Multi Gear Cube Kit version 2.0

wwwmwww · Post **Posted:** Mon Nov 04, 2013 5:46 pm

All,

Here is what I've been working on this weekend. Ever since I sold my first Multi Gear Cube Kit, which was version 1.0, I've wanted another. My aim was to find a good way to add face center orientation to the puzzle in a way which was optional. In effect if I offered it as a kit on Shapeways I wanted the buyer to have the option to built it with this feature or not and I wanted both options to look great. I also still feel tiles are the way to go with this puzzle as stickers I feel would just have too small of a surface area to work over the long haul for a puzzle that is intended to be played with, taken apart so a different arrangement of gears can be added, and played with some more. Version 1.0 I felt fell short in this area as the colors were not as vibrant was I had wanted them. So I've now switched from Rit Dye to Jacquard Acid Dye for all colors except for black. See this post for the color advice I'm currently following.

I still need to seal the parts and for that I'm going to try the method Brandon demonstrates here. And it may be next weekend before I get to finish this up. But here are some pics. I'll be posting a video after I've sealed the parts. The first configuration this puzzle will be assembled in is the Gear Cube Extreme Evil Twin configuration Bram discusses here.

I also have some sad news (for me at least). My "real" camera is dead. Granted its over a decade old so I should be getting a new one anyways but until then I'm forced to use my cell phone for picture taking.

Here are the parts:

This shows how the tiles fit into the face center. They are pressed in with a clean pair or pliers. There is no glue yet but they fit tight enough there is no danger of them falling out on their own.

Isn't she pretty?

Nothing is inside the puzzle at this point, not even the core. I was just loosely fitting the cubies as I was adding the tiles to the parts as a way of making sure I was putting the tiles in the correct locations.

Version 1.0 functioned well as I expect this one to but I've already made some minor tweaks to the design so there will be a version 3.0, which is the one which will likely get placed in my Shapeways shop. This one has been my color testing and sealing guinea pig and provided I don't screw it up the plan is to offer it on eBay... maybe in time for Christmas. I'm currently prototyping 5 new twisty puzzles plus 1 other redesigned twisty puzzle which have already been ordered from Shapeways. A couple of these you already know about, here and here. And I still have 4 more designs in my head that I still need to prototype not counting Gear Cube Kit version 3.0. So... per the wife... I need to sell a few puzzles before I can do too much more playing in Shapeways. Looks like I'll be using my cell phone as my main camera for a while longer. Just too many puzzles I want to make.

Enjoy,
Carl