This is my edge turning cube puzzle. I designed this a while back, and today I received a package containing the FDM printed parts.

As you can see, there is a big gap between the cube halves. The screws are visible as well (no caps were printed, though there is a possibility for them being inserted in the design.

It turns very well and is very stable. It also slightly cuts corners. I'll be stickering it after a smoothing bath of solvent (which I still have to find somewhere). Lockups do occur, but I think smoothing the pieces will help a lot.

I love it! I think it turned out quite well. Can't wait to see it stickered

Nice puzzle! I love the mechanism pictures!

Looks great, i have been very curious about how this particular puzzle works, mech pics helped alot, thanks!

Nice job! Glad to see it completed. How about stickers?

Great puzzle! I saw two other helicopters on the DCD, and they both had gaps betwen pieces.
Some questions:
Is it completely 3D-printed?
How much did printing cost?
Did you think of the whole mechanism yourself, or did you see the mech before and copied it as good as you could?
Is there any way for me to get one ?

Sjoerd

MY favorite puzzle ever! anyway it looks great I cant wait to see it stickered.
I'm so jealous

The stickers will be added once I have smoothed the pieces - I bet the stickers do not like solvent cement. I only have one set (of stickers), and I don't want to have a less than perfect puzzle. I still have to buy some solvent cement actually.

Yes, it is entirely 3D printed. I can't tell you the cost, but I worked out a deal with a 3D printer owner.

The mechanism of this puzzle is just as easy as that of the 3x3 cube. It is as easy as porting the 3x3 to a megaminx. Only in this case, you are porting the 3x3 to a rhombic dodecahedron. It is really simple once you understand Tyler's make a mech tutorial.

I would consider casting copies/selling files, but as someone is working on semi-mass production, I will not. So yes, soon you can get one too. But I don't know when or what the price will be.

you designed this puzzle using tyler's video(technique)? If so I'm gonna get to work

Yes, I did. It's easy.

I'm glad to hear that now off to autocad

Didn't you used to have the files in your catalog? Why did you remove them?

Really nice puzzle. I would really like to see it with the center caps in place.

My first design had gaps as well, but my latest one hides the internal mechanism quite effectively. There is a trick to it...

It is a "simple" puzzle to design, and I was surprised that it had not been done before when I first started working on it. There were, however very few people working on totally new CAD designs for puzzles at that point, so it is not too surprising.


Adam

You made it just in time too. This looks excellent, I'd love to see it stickered. 2008 is definitely the year of the puzzle. Unless, of course, 2009 offers even more, in which case 2009 would be the year of the puzzle.

Why not assume the best? There will never be a year of the puzzle because each year will be better than the last.

Not saying that it'll happen, but it is a nice thought.

That's absolutely what I meant. Things seem to be picking up in terms of puzzle building, and I love it. New mass-produced puzzles, more designs and custom builds, etc. It seems I've got into it at just the right time.

Very cool Tom. I really like this puzzle.

its looking good, cant wait to see a video, or even stickered

when designing the puzzle what does the drawing in the beginning look like?(you can be vague you dont have to actually tell me if you dont want to) adn once again it just looks awesome can't wait to see the stickers

Just like you would make a 3x3. One layer with the circle slammed on top. So you would be looking at a wedge with a circle added on top.

BTW, you must promise me that you will not sell your puzzle (design) if you are going to use my 'hints'.

vague lol but I think I get it now thanks so much

Tom, I have the feeling that once the parts are smoothed some of the gaps will close up. I could be wrong, but it looks to me like the reason the parts have gaps is because of rough FDM.

I've got the right stuff coming in, but I couldn't resist buying some PVC glue/solvent at a hardware store. It said liquid on the can, but if it is supposed to be a liquid, I don't want to know what the gel version is like. That's gotta be near solid. Or is it supposed to be like that?

I tried it on the only cap that I did print and it pretty much covered the entire thing. It took quite some work to get the excess off. It's drying right now, but I'm pretty sure it's no good.

Don't know what you ordered, but I have the IPS Weld-on stuff, and it's liquid. You brush it on like paint, and it evaporates within a few seconds, leaving the piece a bit sticky to the touch (don't touch it till it's really dry).

What viscosity is that stuff? I expected mine to be like water, but it is rather like honey.

Thicker than water, way thinner than honey. Kinda like 3-in-1 oil if you've ever seen that stuff.

Great build! Here, have a cube:

There are 3 IPS ABS solvent cement, 1 is out of production. The other two are 4707 which is thick, but by far the best at bonding stuff, and then the 2354 which is liquid and is great for smoothing 3D printed pieces.
Thanks to the.drizzle for pointing this stuff out to me!

So this is the 2354 stuff you're referring to?

http://www.rplastics.com/weldon2354.html

This is the stuff I use

http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/pls/pls00003.htm

This is what I use: IPS Weld-on 2354. Works like a champ, even for parts printed in sparse.
BTW, that can is a pint. I've been using it for months, and when you open the can, you can hardly tell it's been used. One can will last forever.

Wow, looks amazing, can't wait to see it stickered.
I don't think I could ever solve something like that, I just can't get my head around them

Hey, one of my favorite puzzles, I have some questions:

Is not possible to adjust the pieces to eliminate gap between them?
What program did you use for design?

I have shown my design of this puzzle for some time in the forum, is very similar or equal to this, you can see it here: http://www.twistypuzzles.com/forum/view ... =9&t=11679

Still not finished then, wanting details such as rounded edges.

I believe the best way to get rid of the gap is to add a little extra shell to the pieces which hides the gap. I believe the gap is caused by the mechanism. Adam probably knows this better than I do as he made a version without these gaps by adding these 'shells'.

I used AutoCAD to design it. I usually fillet the outer (visible pieces) at 1.5mm, and the inner mechanism at 1mm. (These values are also the ones used by Drewseph by the way.)

Good luck on making your own!

WOW, the shipping on this stuff is almost the cost of the pint itself! Anyone know where I can get some of this cheaper?? I'd really rather not pay another $10 for shipping :/

Nope. I dealt with the same thing. I also didn't need a whole pint of it, but that seems to be it. The stuff Drew posted a pic looks good, those are smaller bottles.

Yeah you can get one bottle for $3.09 +shipping.

http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/pls/plsbond-2.htm

thanks for pointing that out ejisfun, I just ordered 2 bottles of that.

Sir Toad wrote:


You should try with a programm. It's really not that hard of a puzzle. I solved the centers first, more or less intuitively without really knowing a good algorithm (though I guess I used one that would always work) but at some point I had it. Than you just look for an algorithm that doesn't effect the centers, only the corners. I did find some by just turning the edges around one corner as long as the centers were solved again and than looked what has changed. I suppose that's about how you can do it in most easy puzzles. In this case this is especially easy since there's only 180° turns. I am sure you can find a solution with a bit of patience even if you are no math genius or something.
You should note that I am only talking about the program though. With the real cube you can have other turns than just 180° and it's jumbleable.

it is jumbleable but only to a certain degree I think...meaning there can only be one or two corners jumbled at the same time...maybe I'm wrong, but when playing with one recently I tried jumbling it and could only get a couple of corners at the same time without getting to a point where no turn could be made except going back the way I came.

This puzzle, and it's cousin the SuperX are my favorite custom twisty puzzles of all time. i am glad you have not lessened my few of them, by creating this truly fantastic version of the Helicopter Cube. Keep building more amazing puzzles.

-Grant

What makes the SuperX the cousing of the HC cube? Well, it's a cube puzzle, but besides their creator they share nothing in common. Except for the 3D printed ABS plastic maybe.

To be honest, I know nothing about how the Helicopter Cube or SuperX. I always assumed, they were cousins, because they were made around the same time, and by the same creator. Disregard my comment. I was simply thinking out loud.