The Ultimate Geek Keychain

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
Staff member
Joined
May 18, 1997
Messages
55,602
We have made more than our fair share of CPU die "keychains" over the years. This is the coolest one I have seen in a long time though and comes to us via 3D Center. The video shows you how to reflow (de-flow) a CPU or GPU package and then sand it down to reveal all the goodness inside by hand. Certainly a good lapping tool could cut your time down below 4 hours! And of course, what a better use of an old Xbox CPU/GPU is there?
 
I wonder if you could attach the epoxy side to something like one of the vibration tools and start at something like u5-10 grit?
 
Hey Babe, look what I made for you, took me hrs of true grit. OHHH honey Ohhhh you do love me. Ahh what is it? Well you have to hold it under a light at an angle......... Haven't we had this discussion before.
 
It's cool but the process seems inefficient with all the 'local lapping'... Couldn't he start with some device to apply even pressure across the whole chip?
 
dsystem said:
It's cool but the process seems inefficient with all the 'local lapping'... Couldn't he start with some device to apply even pressure across the whole chip?
Click to expand...

I've done this before, I just glued the epoxy coated top to a palm sander pad and in turn let the sander "float" on a couple of slats I had cut and sanded to the right height. I just ignored it while it ran, the sander was heavy enough as it is and when the sanding pad touched the wooden slats I was done for the most part. Polishing the epoxy is quick once you remove it from the sander pad as is the final step -polishing of the exposed die. Once you have the slats at the right height keep them and reuse for same chip in the future.
 
It's cool, but $5 on the display at the cash register cool. Not 4+ hours of lapping it myself cool.
 
dsystem said:
It's cool but the process seems inefficient with all the 'local lapping'... Couldn't he start with some device to apply even pressure across the whole chip?
Click to expand...
Yeah, you can see where he has some gouges in the chip as well. You could probably just carefully foam tape a cpu cooler's base to the top of the chip for even pressure. Well, I'm not sure if foam tape would withstand that much horizontal force for four hours of constant work in water though.
 
I had an old Pentium that I removed the 'lid' from and it had the visible tie. Of course, it also has a huge nic in it from the Dremel... I don't have the steadiest of hands. :D
 
Ur_Mom said:
I had an old Pentium that I removed the 'lid' from and it had the visible tie. Of course, it also has a huge nic in it from the Dremel... I don't have the steadiest of hands. :D
Click to expand...
Well, it's not like it'd be in perfect shape smashed against keys for the rest of its life anyway I suppose.
 
I have an '06 Pentium dual core that might be fun to try this on.

That xbox chip didn't have a damn heatspreader. anyone know how to get them off? Can I just use the oven/burner to melt the glue?
 
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DocSavage said:
Well, it's not like it'd be in perfect shape smashed against keys for the rest of its life anyway I suppose.
Click to expand...

I used to have an Intel keychain from Intel that was a 486 die encased in acrylic. I got it years ago. The plastic was all scuffed and the plastic part broke where the keychain went, but I probably still have that somewhere.

I'd love to see someone get a bunch of dies (or wafer and get it cut) and do something similar. It's some nerdy shit. Awesome and interesting nerdy shit! :)
 
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