Portable Weighted Companion Cube

This is an Instructable on how to make a little Weighted Companion Cube that you can carry around with you. 

Now you can inconspicuously carry around your own Weighted Companion Cube for any time that you may feel alone or lonely.

The Weighted Companion Cube is ESPECIALLY great for people who don't have anyone to share Valentines day with.  The Companion Cube is a perfect and loyal friend.

When your done, not only will you feel satisfied with your accomplishment, but you will have a new best friend that WILL NEVER STAB YOU.

The most important thing you will need to make you Companion Cube is clay.

I prefer to use sculpey clay.

for my instructable I used:

- Black clay
- White clay
- Pink clay

I bought my clay on sale so it was only about 5 dollars but the general cost should be around 7 or 8 dollars if you need to buy new clay.  The good news is that you will have leftover clay when all said and done.  probably enough to make a couple more cubes (depending on how large you make yours). My cubes are a little bigger than a dice.

I like Black and White because they give you more bang for your buck. But if you want to speed up the process you can buy Gray instead of Black.  you will just use the gray for the body of the cube, and gray mixed with white for the edges of the cube.

some things that will help you make your cube are:

- A hard surface to work on with a smooth surface so the clay doesn't stick
- An Exacto knife (or any other sharp skinny knife) if you want to cut or manipulate the clay in a more finite manner.
- Access to an Oven.  A must.

-ALSO, IN STEP 8 IF YOU CAN NOT MAKE THE TINY PINK CLAY HEARTS YOU WILL NEED A VERY FINE PAINT BRUSH AND PINK PAINT. 

Time to start making your Companion Cube.


You need to start by mixing the black and white clay to form the body of the cube.

To do this you will need to mix

-One part White

with

-One part Black

If you are making them about the same size as mine you should use a dice sized amount of White and Black

When you are done mixing the body of the cube it's time to start mixing the clay for the Edging and middle circles.

To do this you will want to mix:

-Two parts White

with

-One part Black

For this i would mix a dice sized amount of White with half a dice sized amount of Black.  This SHOULD leave you with extra clay at the end... I just like being careful so i don't have to mix more later.

ALSO - if you mix this and it is the same color as your cube body, you are going to want to add white.

Ok, if you have done everything correctly so far ( which I'm sure you have because you like Portal)

then you should have two balls of clay, one dark gray (the larger one) and one light gray (the smaller one).


The next step is then to mold the larger ball of dark gray clay into a cube.  Just use your fingers and play around with it until the sides are equal in size.

IT'S FINALLY TIME TO USE THE PINK! 

You are going to want to make three little balls of pink, each about half the size of a pencil eraser.

Take your fingers and roll each of the balls into skinny snake like strings.

In this step, you know your done when your cube starts to look like a gift wrapped present.

You are going to want to line the end of the rolled out pink clay in the center of any cube edge. 

From here you are going to want to wind the pink clay around the cube, and as you do gently press the pink clay into the cube so it doesn't fall off after you put it on.

When you reach the point where you started laying down the pink clay, break off the remaining clay at the edge.

Gently push the pink clay you just laid into the cube so each face of the cube is flat.

Now repeat the above steps until each face of the cube has a pink plus sign on it.

Time to start using the light gray ball of clay.

I like making all of the Edging pieces at once so i can put them all on at the same time.

The first pieces to make are the corner pieces.

The best way i can explain the shape is - it looks like a piece of cat food.

You are going to want to start with a triangle, squish in the sides, and then flatten it.

This is where an Exacto knife ( or any other SHARP SKINNY knife) will come in handy.

Why you flatten your "Squished in Triangle" you are going to want to cut of the tips so the are boxy.

After you cut off the tips lightly run your fingers over the cut to smooth out the blunt edge.

I would look at the pictures I have included due to my inability to describe this process.

The next pieces to build will be the soul of your cube.

It is indeed the heart of the cube.

You will start with 6 small balls of gray.

You are going to want to press each of these balls and round them into a flat circle.

You are also going to need to make 6 TINY pink balls.

Make tiny pink triangles and Exacto Knife a small triangular chunk out of the top to make a heart.

Just FYI, it takes forever to make a perfect heart to put on the flat circles, but it is possible.

If you can't do it, ( and no one will blame you if you can't) go ahead and paint small pink hearts onto the middle of each circle after you cook your Cube.

These are the last things that you will need to make before you can assemble your Companion Cube.

You are going to need 12 balls of light gray clay that are a little smaller then the balls of light gray clay you used to make the flat circles in the last step.

Mold each of these balls into a small rectangle.

After you are done with this - you are ready to put your Cube together!!!!


... you're, STILL ALIVE. :) Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

ASSEMBLY TIME!!

Now that you have 26 tiny little pieces chilling - it's time to attach them to your Cube.

First, it is prudent to start with the corner and edge pieces.

Place each corner piece on the corners of the cube, with the center of the triangle tips lined up with the edges of the cube and the middle of the triangle where the tip of the cube is.

After you have laid all 8 edge pieces it is time to move on to the rectangular pieces.

Place each of these pieces in between the edge pieces with a little bit of space between each corner piece.

After you have laid all 12 rectangular pieces it is time for the final step, placing the hearts.

Place each of the circular heart pieces in the middle of the pink plus sign.

After you've got that finished-

BAM - YOUR DONE... building your Cube.

Place your Companion Cube into the oven for thirty minutes at 275 Degrees.

This will ensure that your Companion cube will not get squished into an unidentifiable mound of clay after all of your hard work.

Remember that when your Cube is done cooking - IT WILL BE HOT.

Just be careful because the clay stays warm for a while after it has been cooked.

LOVE YOUR COMPANION CUBE, not like it's hard.

Relish it's company and keep it handy. 

That is what it's for.

-Disclaimer?

I didn't invent the Weighted Companion Cube, the genius's at Valve did :)

If you hurt yourself, it's not my fault.  It's also not the fault of your Companion Cube.  It's your fault.