I've played opus magnum for 3 weeks now, 5 days of which were spent obssessing over this puzzle. I first got it 34, then 33, 32, 30, 29, 28, 27 and 26. And then, fairly convinced I couldn't get it down, I tried to shave cycles (I shaved 22 total).
I'm sure the number of cycles is still fairly high, even if I can't get it down further. But I don't think you can save more hex? 

You need an opening move that allows you to rotate the snowflake, before translating it back to its starting position. Translating then rotating is equivalent in area. Translate-rotate-translate technically save some space but then you cannot debond anything.
Of all the valid opening moves, Pivot-slide-push was the only one that allows you to fit the secondary arm in the shadow of that first move. Right? RIGHT?