I just finished assembling my final 3x4x5 prototype, V4. It turns every bit as good as V3 and addresses the issues it had so the 3x4x5 is now ready to enter the market.



You can purchase your own 3x4x5 kit for just $195! You just need 6 M3 screws, springs and washers (or you can use type A ones - though you will need to shorten the screws) and Cubesmith 4x4x4 tiles. Stickers do not work for this puzzle as excess powder is removed trough small holes in the puzzle faces.
Purchase the fully functional 3x4x5 cuboid from my puzzle shop! - alternative, order one from me directly.

I don't have anything to show just yet so the 3x4x5 V3 pictures and video will have to suffice. Luckily, V4 is only very slightly different.

VIDEO

On a side note, after handing me around 30 packages total the UPS guy finally dared to ask what was in them

Looks great, Tom. You have too many awesome puzzles! I need to start saving so I can afford one of them.

Could it also be printed in other materials besides strong and flexible black and white?

Edt. I noticed you copyrighted this puzzle. How hard and expensive is it to copyright puzzles and do you think it's worth it?

Everything you put out in a public setting, without denouncing copyright is copyrighted immediately.


My post is copyrighted. Right now.


Cuboids are the absolute best puzzles around! I'll pray for a mass-production.

How expensive is to put "Copyright 2010" in the description? It's free

Does that mean that my floppy 1x2x3 is copyrighted by me?

Seriously, is it?

Well, copyright protects only creative works. This includes pictures, names (though generally a trademark would apply there), descriptions and could include the general look, but in most cases not mechanisms. It's very minimal protection but better than none.
But it's correct, you don't need to do anything special to get a copyright and it doesn't cost a cent. Though actually enforcing a copyright is far more difficult.

I've decided that the price for a fully assembled 3x4x5 will be $250+shipping.

Now I feel tricked after seeing tons of puzzles on shapeways saying the're copyrighted

I've got the V3 prototype. It turns excellently.
The corner problem is minimal on this prototype and I trust Tom that it is solved on V4.
I hope that many people buy this puzzle and give me a hint how to solve it
Tom has told me that he has scrambled and solved it, but cannot give me any hint how.
I have not yet dared to scramble it because the puzzle does not allow any algorithms that I know so far.
Recently, I have solved too many new puzzles requiring new strategies and algorithms. My wife has kindly asked me to hold back a bit.

I hope people won't mind my bump here, as nobody else has posted a review of the V4 yet.

I recently received my fully assembled 3x4x5 from TomZ (for $250 + shipping, as mentioned above), and it is a beauty! It is very light and compact, with cubies just fractionally larger than those of an Eastsheen 4x4x4. I opted to have mine sent without any lubricant, so making moves feels and sounds like rubbing pieces of fine sandpaper against each other, which I like. The puzzle can cut corners slightly on some turns, but generally you need to align the layers precisely between moves, as you'd expect from a puzzle that is close to the limits of what is possible with proportional cubies. The stability is excellent, including when shape-changing moves have been made and corners and edges are "out on a limb".

I haven't dared make a full shape-changing scramble yet though, as I want to first try to figure out how to solve the puzzle with scrambles of only 180 degree turns. My method is to solve the inner 2x3x5 then the outer 2x3x5: centers then corners then middle edges then outer edges. I can do the inner 2x3x5 without too much trouble as I have owned a Clay & Eva 2x3x5 for many months, but I'm stuck on the last two stages at the moment. Tricky!

Many thanks, Tom! This is a great puzzle, highly recommended.