Megahouse, a subsidiary of Bandai, a Japanese toy manufacturer, has unveiled the world's smallest working Rubik's Cube, just in time for the toy's 50th anniversary. The sides of the aluminum cube are just under 0.5cm and it weighs just .33 grams. It is an official Rubik's cube despite the Guinness World Record being recorded as the "smallest rotating puzzle cube." It even has a tiny etched Rubik's Cube logo on the silver (white) face.
Megahouse worked with Iriso Electronics for the precision work required to manufacture a working cube of this size. The pieces are so small that the final assembly is done by hand.
The companies say that when working at such a small scale, it's also hard to see what is being done while cutting, so the craftsman must rely on data and their mental image of the final product instead of focusing on and watching the process directly. Thanks to Iriso Precision's machines, they're able to produce parts for the world's smallest metal Rubik's Cube as tiny as 0.0001 mm. 'The thickness of a human hair is approximately 0.05 mm to 0.1 mm, but we are able to work with a precision of even 1/100 mm, so we use this technology to create each part,' the teams say.
Of course, the price of the world's smallest functional Rubik's Cube is substantial, at 777,777 yen, or $5,248, plus shipping, but that does include the stand. Although it rotates, I doubt anyone will be speed-cubing with this model, so it is nice that it comes with a way to display it.
Previously: Rubik's Connected Cube tells you how to solve it