All,

This is the The Deep Uniaxial 3x3x3 Cube. This is TomZ's design and he presented one here. I didn't want to bump that old thread and this one has been fixed such that it doesn't require the hand modding the first one he presented needed to get the caps to fit.

I also wanted to collect the history beind this puzzle into one thread. The idea for this puzzle was born out of the thread about Shim's Constellation Six puzzle. In it Landon Kryger (aka GuiltyBystander) and I got offtopic talking the Tuttminx and Futtminx. There he posted this image.



And here are a few short quotes of his that stood out in my mind from that thread.Introducing new pieces and telling a designer that they couldn't be built was all I needed to really really want to be able to build them. My initial idea what to start cutting up the Futtminx as seen here. And as the Futtminx was Oskar van Deventer's puzzle I contacted him with the idea to make a Futtminx Plus. As a good Vorlon (Babylon 5 reference) he answered my questions with more questions. He wanted to know if my idea was unique to the Truncated Icosahedron geometry? Could it be applied to other geometries? If yes, how simple can that geometry be? Etc... And with that spark the Deep Uniaxial 3x3x3 jumped into my head.

I first posted the details on the idea in this thread and earlier that day I had hinted about the idea in the "hints of secret ideas" thread here. And GuiltyBystander was also the first to point out that this puzzle was a super set of the Venus Crazy 3x3 Plus Cube here.

Having shared the idea on January 31, 2011, Tom van der Zanden (aka TomZ) was able to have a finished moldel in Solidworks by February 4, 2011.

So now on with the pics...
Solved

Deep Face Turn

Shallow Face Turn

Checkerboard Pattern


Video

The puzzle is now available in my Shapeways shop:
http://www.shapeways.com/model/465198/deep_uniaxial_3x3x3.html

To finish this puzzle you will need five 16mm 3M Slotted Cheese Head screws. I got mine here. I mention the head type as there is very little free space in this puzzle under the cap and I know this screw fits. I know the Hex Socket Drive Heads are too tall to fit under the cap.

Olivér has the sticker template and you can purchase stickers here.

A few other comments. I did some experimenting with the photography of this puzzle and I'm very happy with the results. I've posted those details here. And this is the first puzzle where I've used a heat lamp to help apply the stickers, and I must say it worked great. Superglue can be messy and with a hair dryer I've managed to blow stickers off a puzzle and I've lost one red Doctor Cube sticker in my kitchen then I still haven't found.

Also here is a a quote from Per that I'm still interested in.Could someone point me to any details on this cage method?

Tom has asked me to not put this on eBay so that is why I've gone strait to Shapeways this time. If you want a finished puzzle please contact me. I'll be willing to part with the very puzzle in the pictures and video above after the first of April.

And for Andreas the puzzle's edge length is 60mm and it weighs 68.84gm.

Thanks,
Carl

One pic from a related thread that I absolutely love is this one. It shows the relation between a few non-standard cut depth puzzles.


Also this version is a closer relative easier to build because it doesn't have the infinite number of pieces and doesn't need fudging/bandaging to work.


@ TomZ. I think I've asked this before and forgot or didn't get an answer but, how many of the Crazy 3x3 Plus Planets can you make with this mech?

Read this:
http://twistypuzzles.com/cgi-bin/puzzle.cgi?pkey=2241

I'm not TomZ but I can answer that. With the parts offered on Shapeways you can only build the Venus version.



If two parts were modified (one of the large centers and the core) you should be able to make a Mercury version. If its ok with TomZ I think I can make that change and offer that version too if there is interest. The other versions will need a whole new mech. You need all the parts in the Multi-5x5x5 present to be able to bandage it into the other versions. Hmmm... and who do you know that has a Multi-5x5x5 design? So yes, getting the others out there is something I want to do. If I start from a Multi-5x5x5, I should be able to offer a kit which would allow you to build all 8. That said, this TomZ design has a more efficient design for the Venus version. A kit which could be used to build all 8 would require more pieces, likely not have all proportional cubies, and likely not turn as well. I'm not there yet, so I can't say for sure.

Carl

Looks ok. This line:sounds odd. I think I would have said:

The result is a super set of the Venus-variant of the Crazy 3x3 Plus Cube as it has several additional pieces.

To look at this in a bit more detail:


The Venus-variant of the Crazy 3x3 Plus Cube (shorted to Venus below) has 6 types of pieces. The Deep Uniaxial 3x3x3 (shortened to Uniaxial below) has 8. Let's talk about each one.

Piece 1: These are the face centers which don't rotate on the Venus. They are in effect all one piece and the core of that puzzle. This piece isn't seen on the outside of the Uniaxial but it is in the core and this is the piece the Type 7 face centers screw into. Its orientation is known though since you can see the Type 7 face centers.

Piece 2: These are the face centers which do rotate on the Venus. Notice this is a super face center as the sides of this cubie are seen in the circles on the adjacent faces. These are the large face centers on the Uniaxial. Here we don't get the orientation information unless we add super stickers.

Piece 3: These are the edge pieces outside the circle on the Venus. These are the middle edges (midges) on the Uniaxial.

Piece 4: These are the corner pieces outside the circle on the Venus. These are the corners on the Uniaxial.

Piece 5: These are the edge pieces inside the circles (which aren't fixed in relations to the 2 turning face centers) on the Venus. These are the T-centers on the Uniaxial. Notice there are only 16 of these on both puzzles. They are the same 16 pieces.

Piece 6: These are the corner pieces inside the circles on the Venus. These are the wings on the Uniaxial. Notice each of these has a unique solved position on the Uniaxial. On the Venus, each has 4 possible positions it could be in and appear solved.

Piece 7: These are NOT present on the Venus. These are the small face centers which rotate on the Uniaxial. Without super stuckers you could consider these the same as Piece 1. With super stickers their rotation could be seen and you'd also have to solve these pieces.

Piece 8: These are NOT present on the Venus. These are the X-centers on the Uniaxial. The Uniaxial only has 16 of these, not the full 24 you'd see on a 5x5x5.

Carl

I got mine 10 minutes ago. Thank you Carl!
A very nice addition to my small collection.
It turns well and looks good.

You are MORE then welcome. I'm glad to see it arrived safe and sound.Something tells me your definition of "small" is different then mine.

Carl