Hi,

I would like to share my comparison of two implementations of 3x4x5 cuboids:
original version of TomZ from Shapeways and mass-produced version by mf8.

On my video you can see that version of TomZ is very stable, no elements
are pop out. I wonder why mf8 changed the model and produced so tottering
puzzle. If they used name TomZ, somebody who is not familiar with details,
may think that TomZ designed not perfect puzzle, whereas original model
is very elegant.

Video: TomZ's and mf8 3x4x5

P.S. The same situation with Mosaic cube: I have original version from
Oskar (printed on Shapeways), which is much better and stable than
Meffert's implementation.

I completely agree that Tom's puzzle is much better.

@Mosaic Cube:
Oskar wrote to me personally that the Meffert's Mosaic is superior to his Fadi Cube.
In this case I do not own a Shapeways puzzle, so I cannot offer a personal opinion. What I can say: If someone is ready to invest in a ball core for the Mosaic Cube, it will be very hard to find a better puzzle.
And he/she will pay a fraction of the Fadi Shapeways price.

While it may not be as good as the Shapeways original, people are giving the MF8 a bad rep for no reason: if you simply tighten the screws a little the MF8 becomes a perfectly working, stable puzzle! I know I've said this many times before but the puzzle you're showing in the video looks very loose so I doubt you bothered to adjust the tension.

Nice set of pictures. I always love seeing good pictures of these mechanisms. I did have a question for Tom. Not sure why I hadn't notices this before but why do you have all the holes on the puzzles surface? Was the intent to allow for tiles to be pluged into these holes? I realize these are covered by the stickers on a finished puzzle but I would think you'd still be able to feel them. I also understand adding holes and making things as hollow as possible lowers the cost on Shapeways but this just seems like an odd placement to me.

The overly curious,
Carl

I completely agree with this. I own 5 of the 3x4x5s and all of them came very loose. After properly tightening the screws they all work very well with no pops or serious catching.

Tom, I tried to adjust the tension, but actually it didn't help enough.
Even if I tighten the screws, I can pop out elements. Your cuboid
works fine with any tension.

I just wanted to show the difference of the models...

Of course, changing the tension doesn't make popping impossible. But if you tighten the screws enough, you get a puzzle that turns well and does not pop during normal use. Of course it will always be possible to take it apart by forcing a piece, but this is (less so) also the case on the Shapeways version.

Carl, the holes are a little experiment. Their contribution to the price is negligible, they're only there as powder escape holes. It was not easy to place the holes on the inside of the puzzle so they wouldn't be seen mid turn, so I went with this approach. The puzzle is meant to be tiled with Cubesmith tiles, it's impossible to feel the holes through those.

As to holes: there will be tiles from cubesmith (or plastic tiles).
I already have set of plastic tiles from 4x4x4, will apply very soon.

I second Tom's statement. I never modified anything, just broke it in and used a little bit of silicone spray. I had not a single pop playing with it for many hours.
I have made this statement on February 2nd.

Several people have reported in the other thread that tightening the screws helps.

Yes, it is true that the Shapeways original is better, but are you going to pay the price difference?
If you miss this puzzle due to the mentioned bad reputation, you are missing something.
Better go and get it and put in some additional work

Tom I don’t mean to speak for you(or MF8), but didn’t they design this puzzle independently from you?
That would explain the difference.

Several pictures of TomZ's 3x4x5 with plastic tiles.

The tiles look great.


On a side note, does anyone know how i can get a hold of some internal pieces for the mf8 version? The puzzle recently popped and now there is no sign of one of the small internal pieces as hard as i look. It would be a shame to count this puzzle out as unusable.