History of my original Golden Cube
12th May 1999-
This is the day I first had the idea to transform a regular Skewb into another puzzle which would also be a Cube. Initially I was going to have the lines of rotation symmetrical. However I eventually decided on just two rules.
1- A line of rotation would go diagonally through the cube.
2-The solved puzzle would be the equivalent to the interior Skewb mechanism partly turned and vice versa. This would greatly confuse solving.
I am not going into the exact sculpting process but I constructed the puzzle in two parts. Each would be a half cube so I wouldn't have to worry about the 'part turn' when sculpturing. The first half was made pretty randomly and I had no idea how big the puzzle would be. I did however try to keep it as small as possible. After I had completed one half I made the part turn and sculptured the second half. This was much more controlled since it had to line up with the first. During this process I noticed that one 'Skewb' corner piece was looking almost symmetrical. I realised that this could add an extra solving problem. During the final shaping I was able to get this piece 100% symmetrical and it became a perfect equilateral triangle of consistent thickness.
Because the piece is this shape, during solving it has no obvious correct orientation. You can't see which way round it should go. Unless you are an experienced solver you might say "so what"? Well if it's in the wrong way round, Towards the end of a solve 66% of the time it will appear that another single 'Skewb' corner needs rotating. This is impossible so the solver would have to find this symmetrical piece and rotate it before the puzzle can be completed.
When the long process of sculpting the pieces was finished I now owned a complete set of polyester resin masters. From these masters I made remeltable rubber (Gelflex) moulds and cast dyed polyester resin parts.
21st Sept 1999-
This is the day I finished my first Golden Cube (excluding the stickers). I was very pleased with the puzzle but had no idea how I would colour it or what to call it. Using normal Rubik's Cube style stickers seemed a bit boring and it would also make it far easier than I intended. Since this was supposed to be the ultimate Skewb transformation I started thinking about the best possible colour schemes. With the new millennium only a few months away I started thinking of names like Tony Fisher's Millennium Cube and perhaps making the thing completely gold coloured without any stickers. For several days I experimented. I tried to mix various metal dust (not gold though) into the resin and wanted to see if I could make it look like a lump of gold. After a while I gave up on this and decided gold stickers on black plastic would have to do.
Over the next few weeks I cast several copies of the puzzle though I still hadn't actually added any stickers yet. The new Millennium came and went and the name was no longer appropriate. It became fairly obvious to simply name it Tony Fisher's Golden Cube.
15th Feb 2000-
This was the day I finished my small batch of Golden cubes. Each was now fully covered with shiny gold stickers. I was very pleased with my puzzles and felt they were better than anything I'd made previously made. It wouldn't be until October 2002 though that I would find out what other people thought. It may sound strange that I kept the puzzle under wraps for over two years. The reason for this was because I was not on the internet and everyone I knew interested in puzzles were spread out all over the world. Rather than send countless photos I decided to spend a few years making new puzzles and then show them off all at once at the Dutch Cube Day in 2002.
6th Oct 2002-
Finally I revealed my Golden Cube to the members of the NKC (Nederlandse Kubus Club) who had gathered at Leiden for the 2002 Dutch Cube Day. After the event I then sent photos to the people who didn't attend. The response was amazing and it was great encouragement for me to continue my hobby (now job). However I wanted to make new puzzles so didn't touch my Golden Cube moulds again for a few years.
Later of cause Uwe Meffert released a factory made version in various colours and I went on to make a mini version.
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5:47Tony Fisher's 31st Golden Cube Puzzle construct...by KaiXevandStanley34,031 views
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