Lapping a heatsink

HawkHawk Fla Icrontian
edited February 2005 in Hardware
Thought you all might like to see how I lapped a heatsink.
#1 Shows the HS lapping just started with a fine wirewheel on the moto tool....
lapping1.JPG

#2 Shows moto at work with wire wheel........
lapping2.JPG

#3 Shows HS after 15 min wire wheeling.....
lapping3.JPG

#4 Shows HS after 10 mins hand lapping with polishing compound.....
You can now see the reflection of the lamp above........
lapping4.JPG

#5 Shows finished HS after 20 mins hand lapping with polishing compound....
You can see nice clean, smooth, surface on final product....
lapping5.JPG

Hope you all enjoyed the show...

Comments

  • ZuntarZuntar North Carolina Icrontian
    edited February 2005
    SWEET!

    *pst, me thinks this should be in the cooling section!!
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited February 2005
    Nicely done, but me thinks you need something more to do in your spare time :)
  • HawkHawk Fla Icrontian
    edited February 2005
    Didn't know if it should be in cooling or not. Could one of our mods switch it over for me. Thnx guys.
    Hahaha kryyst, I wanted to use this HS for the inlaws pc I'm building. I'm putting in an Athlon 1000, which tends to run warm. So, The better the finish on the HS --the cooler it will run. Not to mention that HS was really not clean or smooth.
    It will usually make a 4-6 degree difference by dissipating heat more efficiently, which I know isn't much but it helps.
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited February 2005
    For 4-6 degree's extra displacement I'd drop in another case fan :) Sure it costs more but for the time I think I can splurge and go the extra $10.
  • rapturerapture
    edited February 2005
    Thats a nice temp change for a little job. Better than an extra fan too, noise is bad!
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited February 2005
    rapture wrote:
    Thats a nice temp change for a little job. Better than an extra fan too, noise is bad!

    Things about noise.

    Turn up the stereo, it drowns out the sound of fans and any nagging women.
  • OverLoadOverLoad
    edited February 2005
    In my case nagging parents!
  • GnomeWizarddGnomeWizardd Member 4 Life Akron, PA Icrontian
    edited February 2005
    or in my case nagging roomies
  • SSR_06SSR_06 Iowa
    edited February 2005
    man, you have some mad skill with that wire wheel if you got that flat :bowdown:
  • airoh69airoh69
    edited February 2005
    kryyst wrote:
    Things about noise.

    Turn up the stereo, it drowns out the sound of fans and any nagging women.

    Whats going on with you people complaining with sound. I have 5 fans that speens at constant 3000rpm and a cpu fan at 6200rpms and my powersupply has 2 fans. And believe it or not i don`t really think is so loud. Anyway maybe beacuse i don`t leave it open when i sleep (my old p3 866mhz does that jop. Curently Local area connection status inticates 87 days!!!!)
  • rapturerapture
    edited February 2005
    I know what a monster air cooled rig sounds like. At one point I had a 7k Delta cooling my CPU then a second PSU to run the rest of my cooling.

    Computers dont need to be like that. If I can run at the same speeds at half the volume then that can only be a good thing.
  • HawkHawk Fla Icrontian
    edited February 2005
    Hehehe rapture, I remember those screaming Delta's. Had a few in my pc's before understanding that there were quiet fans out there. Or, At least fans that didn't scream and drown out the speaker system. I don't mind hearing the soft whoosh of fans. The high pitch whine gets to me though.

    SSR, It was already flat, but had minute imperfections on the surface as most stock HS's do. The lapping with polishing compound on a flat surface takes that down. Then you do the hand polishing for the mirror finish.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited February 2005
    Hawk... couple things...

    1. Wire wheeling the heatsink base was a bad idea
    2. Did you put the polishing compound on a piece of glass, or did you do that by hand too?

    If you did both by hand, the heatsink is probably worse now than it was when you started off. :( The point of lapping a heatsink is NOT to give the base a mirror finish.
  • ZuntarZuntar North Carolina Icrontian
    edited February 2005
    Geeky1 wrote:
    Hawk... couple things...

    1. Wire wheeling the heatsink base was a bad idea
    2. Did you put the polishing compound on a piece of glass, or did you do that by hand too?

    If you did both by hand, the heatsink is probably worse now than it was when you started off. :( The point of lapping a heatsink is NOT to give the base a mirror finish.

    UH, ya it is.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited February 2005
    No, no it's not.

    You lap a heatsink to make the base flat, not to make it shiny and pretty. Anything over 1000 or 1500 grit sandpaper is a waste of time, and polishing compound is not a good thing to use, as it gets into the pores in the metal and you'll never get it out.

    The idea of lapping a heatsink to make it shiny is another myth started by some reviewer somewhere that doesn't know their ass from a hole in the ground. Just like "aluminum cases cool better" and the widespread belief that the LianLi PC-60 is a decent case... and the idea that you can test a heatsink by putting it on a CPU and get data that'll let you compare it to other heatsinks in other reviews... and the idea that just because a power supply can power your computer that it's a good power supply... I could go on and on.
  • HawkHawk Fla Icrontian
    edited February 2005
    What, Am I the posterboy to be beatup on today or what! lol
    1. I didn't say Here's my professional review on lapping. I said (Thought you all might like to see how I lapped a heatsink.) So, If I did it wrong according to your book, which I know is well informed. Then, I apologize for the lack of knowledge, on how to lap properly. Maybe we can get you to do one for us.
    2. The wirewheel was a soft fine wirewheel, and I used it to clean up the HS, that had been laying around for a couple yrs. It didn't increase the scratches & imperfections that were already there. Which there were plenty of. Anything was an improvement.
    3. Yes, I just checked this morning and it is 1000 grit wetsanding paper. That's the finest in my collection of sandpaper.
    I used a piece of polished marble with the wetsanding & then the polishing compound. Didn't have glass to use. Which, I know glass is the best thing to use.
    4. Then I handpolished with very light circular motions, like waxing a car for the mirror finish. Which, I realize doesn't mean anything if it's not flat.
    In conclusion, Yes, I did put the HS on and get a temp after 10 mins running before & after. I only got 2 degrees difference on the HS from before to after, but it was just a fun project and I figured it couldn't hurt to try.
    Still friends Geeky? friends3.gif lol
    I bow to your leetness bow.gif because I know you are well informed friend.
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