Building (up) Frustration
Looking for a neat birthday present given the hints clothing, nerdy and cube, I remembered XKCD's Frustration. I was stunned noone seems to actually have built one by now. Somewhat following Rule 35, I did.
Fetch the source material from the hardware store of your choice:
- Cheap bike combination lock. Pick one with a straight construction,
angled locks should be avoided. The soft metal will make the processing
easier.
- Square aluminium profile.
Drill the bolts holding the hosed steel rope to remove the latter. Cut
the profile into pieces in the width of the combination lock segments.
Make more square lock
segments. Cutting the profile is easy in a milling machine. Using a handsaw
might lead to cuts in awry angles. Do not forget to deburr the edges.
Assemble your cubic
lock. This may not be an original Rubick's puzzle, but it definitely will
puzzle people.
Paint your cubic lock
in fancy Rubick's Cube colors. Roughening the surfaces up will help the
paint to stick the aluminium.
Buy a fitting bra. A front closure one makes sense. Find ribbons in matching color and sew them to the
center sides on the outsides of the cup.
Score additional
points on your already well filled nerd meter by packaging your work in a
mainboard box.