So I got my Mosaic cube today, and the turning quality is extremely poor. The tension on it seems to be way to tight. It keeps snapping into a somewhat distorted state, and it is difficult to get it out of that because it takes some force to do so. Below is a picture of the shape the puzzle "wants" to be in

It seems there is a force trying to pull the pieces inward. The only way to keep it from snapping into this shape while turning it is for me to press it onto the table and hold it firmly so that nothing other than the intended slice moves. It's basically unplayable.
The mosaic cubes I've seen in videos so far don't seem to behave this way, and nobody has reported an issue like this. I assume this an exception because Meffert's puzzles normally are of great quality. Is it possible to make it looser?

So far I'm disappointed with the Mosaic cube, and I hope there is an easy way to turn it into the quality puzzle I'm used to getting from Meffert's.

I really hope this can be fixed. I also hope that this is an isolated incident and that you can get yours fixed. I was looking forward to receiving mine and now I am weary. Not to speak to soon but here it goes again! First the Vulcano and now the Mosaic Cube.

Chris

It *may* be disassembled by U.S. security, so i don't know how that would affect it

I wonder how. So far I haven't figured out how to take it apart.

They'll take it apart with a hammer if they have to

If you turn one large layer halfway, try and see if you can somehow pry off the corner-caps. Then you should be able to reach the screw inside and loosen it. Even if it is glued on you can still force it off, either with a knife or with brute force. (and AFAIK all Meffert puzzles exc. 2x2x2's have screws and not rivets, I don't see why this one should be any different.)
On one hand I'm happy that people have started recieving the puzzles, on the other hand I'm disappointed that the first case is a bad case. I'm sort of worried...

That may actually help in this situation

I did manage to take the puzzle apart. Because it is so incredibly tight, it took a lot of force to pop out a piece. Now I have the core with the 8 corner pieces attached. But there is no way to take it apart further to get to the screwheads. It almost looks like the caps were welded on ultrasonically, and not glued. The mechanism uses screws and springs, but when pulling on the corners, they can only be separated from the core by about 0.4mm in the best and 0.2mm in the worst case. 1mm on all 8 axes would make this a much better puzzle, provided you can loosens the screws.

Got one! It is very hard to take these off. I still have 7 to go.

I did it!
Reducing the tension and giving the puzzle a bit more slack makes all the difference.

That's good to hear.

May I ask when you ordered the cube? Was it through the Jade club or not? I'm trying to determine when I can start waiting for mine.

Now that you've had the caps off... do you think it would be possible to take them off without disassembling the whole cube?

Then it would have arrived disassembled.

I'm curious too. Also, can we get a picture with the tensions fixed?

My Mosaic Cube (ordered via jade club) should be underway too. I hope your cube is an isolated incident.

I just got mine and it's exactly the same; way too tight and totally not-cubic. Stickers are all over the place too.
I've disassembled it (not too hard) but it was way overlubed. Very nasty, had to clean the parts off to make them handleable. Using an exacto knife I got/broke one of the caps off, I'll work on the other 7 tomorrow (I had to apply so much force I cut myself using the backside of the knife!).

I really hope that they all don't show up like this...I was basing my purchase off of the reviews by Rox and from several other youtube users. Mefferts should not send out a puzzle that is supposed to be cubic, but is not.

I only have one question- assuming these puzzles have been packed by hand (which I'm pretty sure they were) how is it that no one picked up on the fact that it's completely messed up? I know it's probably just bad workmanship but I'm sure someone would at least have spotted it at the factory, right?

Also, for those who know the behind-the-scenes stuff (coughroxcough), in the factories are all the screws screwed in by hand, or is there a machine for that?

I ordered mine in January 12th through the Jade Club.


I don't think so. Assembly and disassembly are pretty easy. Once the first piece is out, everything comes apart in a few seconds. It's that first piece that is tricky because the cube is so tight. Rotating a large corner by 1/3 turn and then popping out the whole cube edge (2 edge pieces and centers) works best. Assembly is easy too. Put the whole edges back in at once, i.e. take 2 edge pieces and a piece with 2 centers, assemble them outside the cube and then squeeze the whole sub-assembly between 2 corners. I assembled mine in less than 5 minutes. Once the cube is looser, it's much easier.


Mine was overlubed as well. After I pried the first corner off, I was having a lot of difficulty prying the next one off. I didn't want to inflict too much damage so I went to plan B. Pulling the corners outward (hard) increases the friction between the screwhead and the spring (and consequently the corner piece). While pulling, rotate the corner counter clockwise. It may be necessary to do this many time just to loosen the screw by half a turn, but this may already be enough to slip in a pair of needle nose pliers and grab on to the thread of the screw and loosen it further. It is also possible to retighten it if it is too lose. This is what I ended up doing with all the corners where the caps didn't come off easily.


Sure. It looks just like you would expect :

D: I can't wait for mine it's so sexy!

Mine is wonky like the first photo shown. But it's the prototype. I don't have the mp one yet. I played with Uwe's, but the caps kept falling off. I've one coming in the mail so I'll let you all know what mine is like when I get it.
As for the screws. I don't know. Funny. I would guess they are done by people. The caps I think are glued on.
Mind, he did say it was for collecting, and I won't even begin to tell you about the problems producing this one. It seems it is better suited for shapeways~but that is just my opinion....

Mine is just like that. The screw are very tight. So this topic has provided me the way to loose the screw. Thanks for that.

It's too bad that the overly tight assembly appears to be the norm for this puzzle. Finding the right tension is key in order for it to be playable. Too tight and it locks up. To loose and it pops. I believe I dialed it in just about right. It turns fine, but it is no V-Cube for sure.

After my initial disappointment yesterday I'm glad I bought one. It is a very good looking puzzle after all. But perhaps this is one of those that should have gone through a few more design optimizations before being released to mass production.

Got the Mosaic Cube around a week. But my mosaic cube seems to be too tight & so hard to play with. So I'm going to disassemble it~

It's not so hard to disassemble it. Just like 3x3, Turn one of the face(in this case it's a corner) halfway & then peel it off. It's would be easier if you pull out the little four center piece when you peel it off.

& then is the corner. somehow this should be the center....nevermind. This conrer is stuck with 3 little leg & they're really tight! This is the first one I pull it out & 3 legs are broken......the consequence of violence......Well at least the screw is shown.

This is the second corner. It's better. Seems I figure out how to pull it out.

All the corner is done! I'm tired.....

six pieces of High heel shoes~

twelve sport shoes

All parts are here. What? the right upper corner one? Well...I just like it^^Kuromi~

I loose all eight screw a little bit. & then begin to assemble it. In order to do some correction I'll assemble the corner at last. So I'll assemble the edge first. For this cube, The edge means "two big shoes with one high heel shoe". To put it back, it's the same way how you pick it out. This is a photo of four edges are done.

The middle edges are done~

Well, 10 pic is maximum? I just leave one pic in my reply then.

All done~I think it's a little loose after I assemble it. So I tighten all 8 screw, & then I think it's fit. So I just put back the 8 corners.

It's better to turn after I do this job. But still not something I predict to. May be it's because there're too much pieces which would touch each other while turning.

It's time for me to think...What should I do with the broken leg corner?

Thanks for posting this as it seems this is something that most of us will have to do. What is the trick you figured out for removing the corners without breaking the legs?

Mine also came in the same state. I don't have time to repair it right now, but it is good that other folks have solved the problem. Otherwise, I like the material, the weight, and the overall design -- I just hope that mine looks as nice as yours when it is back in good order.

Mine came today and it is just as bad as everyone else's. Rox, next time you talk to Uwe could you let him know what is happening with this? Maybe it would be possible for those of us who end up breaking the corner pieces in an attempt to adjust the screws to get replacement pieces and stickers.

Would one of you guys take more pics of the mech and pieces for me?
I can't contribute anything to your problems because I don't have a mosaic cube. I am still thinking of getting one though.

Edit: There are enough pics of the mech now. Maybe I couldn't see those or they were added or I am dumb.
thanks for the pics.

I am going to the post office tomorrow to pick up my cubes and I really hope my mosaic cube turns ok. I am not expecting a speed cube or one that cuts corners but it should not have to be put back into shape with every turn. Its an expensive cube!

Well I don't know how to say...Patience & Careful is important. For me I use a straight screwer, putting the corner side on the table, & then scratch it out a little bit, 3 sides of the corner(for 3 legs). everytime a little, & then the corner part will be release.

Some corner, when I put it back on, it'll be easy to fall even 3 legs are intact. So I'm deciding to use some glue then. Of course it's mainly because my broken leg's corner......^^

blue tack! If you want to open it again, use blue tack!

I would advise not to try to keep the corner legs intact. It saves a lot of frustration if you just stick your blade in there and break the caps off. You can just glue them back on.

I find it's best to just put a tiny drop of super glue on the corners and then stick the cap back on. When you want to take it apart again, just slip a straight blade under then corners to break the glue.

That said, I'm going to try to keep my legs intact, since I have NO super glue right now.

blue tack...I see. I'll try it out. Thanks for advice.

Out of interest, has anyone tried the old paper trick that keeps the Crazy cube center caps in place? (I'm already preparing to destroy the corners of my Mosaic cube once it arrives since everyone seems to have the problem, but I don't happen to have any blue-tack on me.)

I can't seem to get the caps off of mine. I got one, but the rest won't budge. How should I take them off?

I will not have to worry about the caps today. I went to the post office and pick up my cubes from Mefferts. In the box was two of the three cubes I ordered. The Mosaic cube was missing and the invoice said it would be sent later. Has anyone else had this happen?

It's listed as out-of-stock now at mefferts.com
Did they really do such a small production run or do you think they stopped shipping for now because of the problems?

I hope he stopped shipping to fix the problems and I will get a happy cube.

I just got my order that included a mosaic cube and had the exact same thing. Everything except the mosaic cube was included, and the invoice said it would ship at a later date. Here's hoping they are indeed being held to resolve the tension issue.

My mosaic cube arrived today, and when it first came out of the packaging it LOOKED just fine, and I had a hope that I was just lucky. Then I tried to turn the puzzle, and it looked very much like the puzzle in the first picture in the thread. After removing the caps with a knife, and loosening the screws and piling lube inside, it now turns fairly better- like my Vulcano when I first got it. Hopefully the problem will solve itself with time and breaking-in, like my Vulcano did...
That said, the mosaic cube is certainly an interesting puzzle to solve...

EDIT:
here's an unboxing video for anyone who's interested.
(and yes, this IS a blatant attempt to get more views on this video... )

I just got my cube today and mine looks just like the picture at the top of this page, all out of whack, pieces askew and very impossible to turn right. When I get more time I'll definately be consulting this thread for dis/re-assembly help. Thanks.

Well, it seems that, even though the manufacturing process is currently flawed, it is at least consistent

Just a few tips on popping the mosaic cube.

Rotate the inner layer halfway (60 degs), but don't try and pull both edge pieces (and the center piece) out. You will never get it.

Instead, push the inner edge piece forward until you see a gap, and pry the pieces out from the inside of that gap.

I received mine today in the US (ordered first day from jade club) and it had the same problem. Don't bother trying to get the center caps off. Using Roger's method of disassembling and pulling the center pieces hard away from the puzzle and rotating them counter clockwise worked great! Use the gap as to guide how far you've gone I even accidentally pulled the caps off three of the centers without breaking the posts and exposing the screws conveniently. I overshot it a bit and made it so the gaps exposed 3 screw threads clearly. It's a little too loose now but turns way better. Will tighten it to a 2 threaded gap when I get a minute.

I got mine today (Tuesday) - same issue as all the rest.
I ordered mine with several other puzzles as soon as it became available on mefferts.com - my other puzzles arrived last Monday with the note about the mosaic coming later, so for anyone waiting i hope this gives an idea on wait time - I'm in Europe.

@TomZ - Luckily my stickers seem to be aligned very well so maybe it was just an isolated case for you.

Now ...... how to get the thing open.........

Got mine too. It's a total mess and unplayable. It popped. I will start re-assembling it later.
Still haven't seen the solution for the not-cube-shaped problem.

Mine has arrived today as well (Germany, Bavaria).

It is probably in the same condition as the others (I have aligned it carefully for taking the pictures ), but my conclusion is different: I can turn it quite OK, when I hold it in a strong grip of my left hand and turn a corner with my right.
I have lubricated it even a bit more and I'll wait until I have broken it in, before I'll possibly undertake the loosening of the screws, as everybody else.
I'm a patient guy and I have to say that I would be glad, if all of my high priced custom cubes would have arrived in the same turning condition. Patience and lubrication has improved all of them to an OK condition - except for one (and I had a got a strong warning from the seller, that this one is more a collector's item. I should have taken that warning more seriously, because I'm not a collector of puzzles just to look at ).
I'm pretty glad having purchased the Mosaic Cube and I would not pay eight times as much for the Fadi Cube at Shapeways.
Has one both and can make a comparison?

EDIT: Probably, Oskar should comment here and compare the Meffert's with the Shapeways version.

EDIT2: After playing with the Mosaic Cube for an hour or so and after lubricating it again, I feel a bit strange: Am I really the only one who thinks that the turning is really good? Is it just me, an old veteran who has started with an Hungarian Rubik's Cube out of solid plast with no springs? No, I have heard from Uwe that he has got many mails like this "there is no problem with Mosaic cube. Thanks".
Before you hurt your fingers any more, maybe, you should try my method: a little bit of patience and a little bit of good silicone spray
Thanks Uwe, thanks Oskar!!!

Update: It's easy to disassemble but there is no way i can get those caps off! My fingers were in bits from pulling at them and they still wouldn't budge, i then tried just pulling them out and twisting counter clockwise which worked very well. Unfortunately i went too far (about 2 screw lines) and now the puzzle is too loose and falls apart when turning.
I don't know how i am going to tighten the screws as i do not have a needle nose pliers and i can't get the caps off and my fingers are too sore to try again today

I believe the caps are melted on. An xacto knife is helpful!