Day: August 8, 2010

3x2x1 Rubik’s Cube assembly pictures

The design should be pretty intuitive.  However, I went ahead and took some pictures of the assembly anyhow.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I think this one came out really really well.  :)

Tyvek Sled Kite… from office supplies

Tyvek Office Supply Kite

The picture to the right is of a kite that I built several weeks ago and only got around to actually flying this weekend.  It’s basically made out of office supplies.  :)

Originally I just wanted to make the Tyvek sled kite from the Howtoons shown in Craft Magazine, Volume 8. 1  But then I wanted to see how much of the kite I could assemble just using things from the office.  The answer is, basically all of it.

The Howtoons calls for:

  1. A large sheet of Tyvek
  2. Tyvek tape
  3. A washer
  4. Ruler
  5. Scissors

Instead I used:

  1. Tyvek from Tyvek office envelopes, rather than a large sheet or roll of Tyvek house wrap.  My office is sent dozens of these things a day.  It didn’t take long to collect 30 plus.
  2. Clear packing tape.  I used this instead of Tyvek tape.  Tyvek tape would have worked a LOT better, but I have no complaints.
  3. Rather than use a washer, I used a spare keyring.  I had other various office supply bits hanging around in case this didn’t work out.  Paperclips, binder clips, etc.
  4. Yardstick.
  5. Scissors.

Since the envelopes are significantly smaller than the sheet of Tyvek rolls, I had to either make my kite smaller or stitch them together into a larger sheet.  I did both.  I scaled the plans down to about 2/3rds the size from the diagrams and then used packing tape to put them all together.  To get the most surface area out of each envelope, I burst all of the envelopes at the seams and then taped them up.  Once I had a 36″ tall sheet, I started cutting it into the pieces I needed, re-taped it back together as indicated by the diagram, and then set it aside for weeks while I didn’t fly it.  :)

On the day of the launch I made the tail out of strips of leftover envelopes taped together with the gluey bits from some of the envelope flap sealants and more packing tape.  I punched a hole in the three ribs using a pen, ran the line through each of the three ribs, reinforced it with more packing tape…  and launched.

The only non-office supply things used in the construction were:

  • Crayons for coloring the kite (hard to see)
  • The ruler – I don’t have a yardstick at work
  • The kite line, purchased from Amazon

It flew pretty well.

  1. I found a copy of all three pages after googling around a little.  Howtoons: Sled on a Thread pages 1 2, 3 [↩]

3x2x1 Rubik’s Cube – done!

I’m so happy with the way this has turned out.

I’ve made a bunch of changes since the last revision of this printable 3x2x1 Rubik’s Cube puzzle:

  • I’ve totally redesigned the center barbell connector.  I simplified the design, removed the five support struts for each end and replaced it with a single support strut and a flat hexagon in the center of the piece.  The purpose of the hexagon is to give the barbell more contact area with the raft.  One of the earlier drafts didn’t have as many supports or this flat hexagon, and it tore off the build platform partway through the build.
  • I increased the diameter of the tube between the barbells.  This enabled it to print easier, made it a little more sturdy, and decreased the wobbliness of the barbell when everything is assembled.
  • I also shortened the entire barbell by 1mm, so that the entire puzzle is held together more closely.
  • I made the flat semi-circular tabs slightly thinner so they rotate a little more freely.
  • I significantly redesigned, thickened and simplified the two brackets that the barbell snaps into.  It’s been able to easily withstand numerous couplings/decouplings as well as numerous rotations.  With a few rotations, all parts now rotate easily.
  • All of the parts fit together SO much better than my first draft held together with a nut and bolt.
  • There is a slight bit of sideways flex that can occur with the use of the barbell.  It is really minor and it actually seems to help the puzzle be more forgiving as you manipulate it.  I see this more as a benefit than a design flaw.

The was one design choice on which I waffled.  I considered making the center cubes non-identical, with one having half a barbell stick out and with the other having the internal connector you see now.  This would have removed much of the sideways flex – since the barbell would be stationary.  I did not go with this design choice because whether the puzzle used one barbell and two connectors or male/female center cubes, there would always be some flex caused by the use of a connector rather than a static pin.  And, to be honest, I much preferred the symmetry of having everything assembled out of just three unique parts.

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I really like the idea of a MakerBot printable toy that can be printed in one go and then assembled without tools or any additional hardware.  I also think this would make a great MakerBot print demonstration.

I’ll post some pictures of the parts a little bit later.

Test