Hey guys i'm going to document all of my steps of making my gigaminx to give people an idea how to mold and cast things. this will be my firs time so if I make any mistakes please correct me

Supplies Used:

Mann Ease Release 200
2 Gal. Black Alumilite Resin W/ 1oz Pumps
OOMOO 25
Gigaminx Masters =P
Non-Hardening Clay
Plastic Cups

This should be completed by Saturday hopefully. Thanks!

are they your masters, or did you borrow them from someone else? if you borrowed them from someone, then who and what did u have to do th get them to lend you them?

They are my masters and I was asked not to reveal those details... Sorry

Good luck. I've go to try and make one of these also-if I could buy masters-, because I just haven't made a mod in a while and have got to make something big for a change.

This thread will have about 60 people asking for gigaminx masters.
Oh wait, there are already some.

is there a "floor" to the lego walls, or does the clay just rest on the table itself?

Wow thats alot of plastic you've got there for a gigaminx... what else are you planning on building with it? The gigaminx is gonna use like one tenth of that.

And I suppose I am one of them.

Seriously, where are all these gigaminxes coming from?!? Where can I get them?

that is true, when I builted mine it only took me a little less than a trial kit of Alumilite. Good luck.

I suggest buying the 2-gallon kit to anyone who can afford it, and plans to make a lot of puzzles. Yea, the gigaminx won't use much, but you can make a ton of puzzles with that much. My first 2-gallon kit lasted me about 3 months, and I was cranking out stuff like there was no tomorrow. I just started my second 2-gallon kit- this time in white.

what it boils down too.

V1: Functional but less than optimal. the first generation and obsolete, thus relatively available to anyone.

V2: A full scale optimization or path movement and well suited for speed cubing. Potential production quality. priceless

V1.5 Design without knowing any other type of possible mechanism, and is very functional and dense. as above, Priceless.

IMO this is why so many people have the V1. Thought it was a breakthrough of puzzles and a motivation for my joining the forum it has served its purpose.

Also I made 13 MT's with 1 gallon

Just the clay

Yes I know it is not going to use much i'm designing some puzzles right now though that i hope to make

So that means that you are done with the casting of the MT's.... ohh I'll better be ready to pay for mine soon.

Good luck with this, you will need some serious determination to cast the whole thing 1 part (per master) at a time.

I think the main flaw with the v1 is the fact that most of the mechanism is empty space, and there is almost nothing holding certain parts in aside from friction (and other parts, of course). Nowadays it has become a mere starting point for budding molders/casters, since the parts aren't overly complex and the volume of parts is so large (along with a certain builder selling masters for it to anyone who can pay). Plus many of the "big time" collectors (georges, reeech, geert, etc) already have V1s or better, so the value drops considerably.

The 1.5 and higher, however, have much more value due to better mechanisms and extreme rarity. I believe there are only 3 v1.5s in the world and between 3-5 v2s. Plus the mechanisms are much more playable; I've solved my 1.5 twice since I stickered it and not a single pop, whereas I couldn't even solve the centers of my v1 without a pop.

Its still a very cool puzzle to own, regardless of version. Just be prepared for a stickering job nearly as grueling as building the puzzle itself.

And yes, you will have TONS of resin left over afterwards. I've casted a 3x3x4, 2 and a half dominos, a gigaminx 1.5, and half a rhombiminx with my white gallon kit and I've barely used 1/10th of it.

not quite, there are certain defective pieces I need ro recast and replace, then I need to polish sand each piece individually, I'll probably do that over the next few weeks. I never said I'd ship first thing Nov 1st. the pro-minx looks potentially delayed =p

I don't think that's the problem, I think the problem lies in the time builders put into it. In mechanism, a Gigaminx V1 is almost identical to an eastsheen 5x5. If you take the time to align your centers well, there should be no problems and you will have a very playable gigaminx.

My only hope is that you guys aren't all buying up these masters in hopes of selling the puzzles on ebay for hundreds of dollars. Can we at least respect those who put the work into designing and bringing the thing to fruition, and not whore it out? Yes, I have a copy of the masters, but I don't intend on selling them or a completed puzzle. I thought about it once, and had even PM'd Tyler about it, but then thought better of it. It's not my work, and I didn't buy them from the original creator (TBTTyler). Yes, get the masters, make yourself a puzzle, but please don't sell them, guys.

IMHO, this should NOT be your first puzzle casting project. This is way too complicated for that. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you guys have skills I don't. Maybe I'm alone in my opinion.

....only if the person(s) selling them actually responds or even acknowledges a PM.

Why not? Gigaminx V1 was my first cast puzzle, and it was only Tyler's second. And his first puzzle had even more complex cubies then the Gigaminx.

My opinion, my friend.

Personally, I think the shapes and size of the gigaminx pieces are more complex, and if you haven't done a bit of casting before, you're going to end up with lots of small air holes, voids, or gaps or flashing that's too thick, or whatever. I see a lot of puzzles posted here (no offense to anyone) that really could use some work. People are too quick to crank out pieces, throw some stickers on them and say, "hey, look what I made". The higher-order, and more advanced puzzles deserve some respect.

I just think it's much easier to learn on something like a 3x3 mod, so you don't end up wasting so much resin.
Just getting some masters, making the molds and cranking out 200+ pieces is a bit of a rush. You gotta learn to crawl before you walk.

Again, just my opinion.

well, some people are borrowing from people that already made a gigaminx, and some are making their own gigaminx masters. Honestly, I think it would be easier to make your own masters than it would be to get someone to give them to you.

You've never made a gigaminx, have you? I REALLY doubt that. Even if you're really good with CAD, you'll have build prototypes to test, revisions, etc.. Why do you think these guys sell the puzzles for hundreds or thousands of dollars? It takes them that much to make them.

By the way, Synester -- I agree with Garrett. You're gonna need to make more molds. Some of those parts require 60 of each. You don't want to cast them 1 by 1. I made a mold with 6 of each for those 3 parts. The ones that require 12, 20 and 30, I just did one by one, but it's been ongoing for a number of weeks. I'm in no hurry. If I was in a hurry, I would have made a mold with 2 of the one part, and 3 of the other, or maybe 5 of each. I'm still working on a way to make the centers better. That is, unless Scott ever comes out with his upgraded centers.

ofcourse i havent made a gigaminx. what i mean is that I know how hard it is to design it (although i guess I cant truly know since I never made one) so i mean that someone that has masters would think that they worked so hard to make those masters, and just wouldnt give them away for anything. thats why i think that its easier to make your own masters oppose to getting someone elses. jsut my opinion though.

Ohhh got it. Sorry, didn't mean to jump down your throat.

I disagree. It will still have the stability issues, regardless of tension. Tyler's had nearly perfect tension when I used it and it popped while I was turning an outside edge.

Hey guys just a quick update, I have casted about a quarter of the pieces and I have about twenty pictures to post but i am just too tired right now, but they will hopefully be posted tomorrow. Also, i was wondering if anyone had any reccomended methods of casting the spindles.