Here is the sphericube... made of tiles of course LOL
Making it was almost impossible as I had to string it using some interesting angles.
I will never make another one as it was too hard, but it is definitely a landmark build for people
who want to test their ultimate skill in magic stringing!
As usual, the stringing is always consistent throughout the entire puzzle and it can never be flat!

As a puzzle, it has way too many restrictions because of its too many combined loops.
Therefore, the movement of this 30-tile beast is a tiny fraction of the ones that exist in the "Secret of Atlantis" puzzle.
And although it can still be very playable, I regard it more as a special decorative design rather than a puzzle...!


Some pictures of how it unfolds from a cubic form to different shapes and eventually to a sphere!





















In the last photo, you may see another puzzle on the right, whose little tiles
are arranged the same way with the sphericube! (equator-like!)



Pantazis

Simply outstanding dear Pantazis

You won't never stop fascinating me with your amazing magic stringing skills. Awesome design. I believe you when you say almost impossible stringing....

Brilliant mate! I love it. I hope you will build another one soon, this one with some original stickers, like the ones you are used to build!

Well done malakas!


PS. I love your last photo, add it to the picture contest! :)

umm...



err...



uuh, wow?

Wow wow wowie wow wow!

unbelivable

you are great with magic tiles and strings

It reminds me a chastity belt................. lol :):)

This isn't a puzzle....its art!

Any chance of seeing a stringing diagram so others can build one?

Amazing comeback. I can't wait to see how you top this!

Congrats

-Adam-

that is pretty cool..

Wow! Very cool.

This is a kind of "Magic Sculpture"

A sort of Rombicuboctahedron would be interesting too, even though it would not move at all. (This would be the above magic with only 1 tile between the junctions instead of 2)

B
E
A
U
T
I
F
U
L

Thanks to everyone for the kind words!






LOL!!!






The stringing is standard and the string always alternates from front to back. It would be quite complex to provide a diagram, but the technique is the same to normal flat magic stringing, so it should be easy to understand for anyone who has little experience. But even if you know where the strings go, placing them is another (tricky) story!





The Sphericube is based on a 9-tile (i.e. 3d state) magic structure. It is indeed possible to make a mini sphericube based on a 3d state 6-tile magic. But that would mean that the stringing will not be consistent (I prefer to call those bandaged magics), making the already rigid structure even more rigid!

Making one of those 18-tile magics (which will have to be "bandaged" on at least six spots) would be extremely beautiful as its rigid state will not require any manual balancing. Stringing it though, would be much more difficult than the Sphericube!




Pantazis

Really? I'm lost when trying to figure out what you did on the intersections. Don't remember seeing anything like that on the regular magic....

Also, where do you get your tiles? Is there anywhere to get tiles that aren't already part of a puzzle??

Here are a couple of fantastic tutorials of how to build the magics
http://twistypuzzles.com/articles/magic-2x2.shtml
http://twistypuzzles.com/articles/magic ... ging.shtml

They clearly show how the stringing configuration happens.

In the case of the Sphericube where some parts intersect, the stringing orientation (in both sides) will remain exactly the same. And that means there will be no blockage during the exchange of strings (which is how the magic tiles move with respect to each other).

In the case of the mini Sphericube though, some tiles will be forced to be stringed in both ways, which will result in the magic being blocked on those parts.

I am actually planning to make some bandaged magics in the future, and hopefully I'll be able to make this part more clear!





I managed to get some chinese magic tiles. Rubik's are a little bit better, but those tiles are still doing an excellent job. Plus, I don't have to wait 4-5 months to receive them!!!
(the prices between them are not that much different, but the waiting periods are like day and night)



Pantazis