On 1 Jun 1996, Wei-Hwa Huang wrote:

{Mostly snipped}

As another aside, I don't understand the rationale behind the canonical
4x4x4 design. It would seem to me that it's better to have two rings of
grooves in each dimension, so that the face pieces could have "fatter"
legs and not break off as easily.

Wei-Hwa Huang, whuang@cco.caltech.edu, http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~whuang/

It probably isn't necessary for the legs to be so thin; the mechanical
engineer probably had optimistic estimates of the likely forces and the
strength of the particular polymer used. The latter isn't, by any means,
cheap stuff.

Wider legs might still meet the constraints that ensure the Cube not fall
apart.

(Sorry for a slow reply.)

Regards to all,

NB Nicholas Bodley Autodidact & Polymath |*| Keep smiling! It makes |
      Waltham, Mass.   Electronic Technician  |*|   people wonder what   |
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