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How soft is copper?

C

CrimandEvil

Dick with a heart of gold
Joined
Oct 22, 2003
Messages
19,670
I'm thinking of making my own waterblock (atleast a chipset size one for starters) but I don't exactly have access to some niffty CNC machines or anything like that, I have pretty much a Dremel and alot of free time.

So can I drill into copper (1/4 thickness or so) with a Dremel if I take my time and go slow?

What about using aluminum as a replacement?
 
You can drill/machine it, just go slowly and use enough lubrication.cooling. Also clean the drill/mill bit out if it gets packed with chips.
 
dremel'en a water block would be [H]ard core

best of luck, show pics!!
 
i did that for a science fair project (then i did one more that was better - i think anyways) i used a dremel, a drill press, a 11/16" drill bit+1/2 tap, several 2"x3"x1/4" pieces of copper (11 i think... heh), 5 tubes of silver solder from radio shack and a tube of copper solder from lowes (>$30 right there) a blowtorch (well two actually... the first one stopped working right so i had to buy another one) and probably $30 in misc. stuff from lowes:D

i'd be using the 4th block i made (i think it's the best... it's also the only one i don't have any pics of... and i don't have a digital camera per se, so i'm not planning on taking any)

its not that hard, as long as you follow the 'good enough/close enough' school of thought:p i am a close follower of that school of thought, and it is near and dear to my heart. it also shows in some of the stuff i do.;)

you shouldn't have much trouble as long as you leak test stuff for a while.
this is VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 (the one is for good measure)

one of my blocks leaked on my motherboard. didn't kill anything, but it sure scared me (and i think it is causing some problems... but i haven't had a chance to replace the motherboard or anything like that)
24hrs is not enough for a custom block. you need to stress the fittings and the block itself while running a large volume of water through it. if possible, pressure test it (air compressor/bike pump/whatever) up to 30-40psi (not sure what the best amount to test to would be... maybe someone else knows?) for a few hours. just a heads up:) i wouldn't expect your block(s) to leak if you're careful and take your time (and this leaked out of a kind of joint i wouldn't expect you to use - a crimped pipe soldered into a slot cut with a drill press/dremel/filed that was marginally too big i think)

anyway, good luck!


oh - i wouldn't use aluminum. it will probably gum up the drill bit you use (lower melting point than copper) and will perform worse. so it isn't that much easier to machine, and it doesn't work as well.

oh #2 - use cutting oil, and also clamp down the piece of copper you're working on. i scraped many a knuckle before i made a brace out of a piece of scrap wood to keep the piece of copper from turning while drilling it.
 
Cool, I'm reading up on making one and slowly designing it my head. I'll take pics when I start it but I don't have a digicamera so I have to deal by using one of those disposable cameras and getting them developed and put on CD...so it'll take some time. :(

I'm thinking of doing it pretty simple (don't want to get over my head in the beginning) so far I'm taking a few design ideas from:
http://www.overclockers.com/articles169/
http://www.overclockers.com/tips912/
This guys stuff
http://www.dangerden.com/images/MAZE4/Maze4_AMD_large.jpg

I can't wait to start planning it. :)
 
i personally quasi-based one of my designs (i tried three, ended up with something based on the best one) on owenator's waterblock (he wrote a thing there... shouldn't be hard to find) i modified it a good bit, actually, in my latest one.

i used 2 pieces of 2x3 1/4" thick copper. in the bottom one, i dremeled a series of channels from the inlet to the outlet. in the top piece, the outlet is a 1/2x5/8 barb (it fits 5/8" ID tubing, but you can stretch 1/2" over it and it has a 1/2" ID) the inlet is a piece of 5/8" OD pipe with the end crimped that goes in at an angle. the whole thing is soldered shut. i've run it for about 3-4 months off and on (i keep screwing around with my computer/WC loop so it hasn't stayed on the whole time... i'm currently working on the radiator)

so that's what i did. i can try to do diagrams if you want to try something similar, but something simple probably wouldn't be far behind this (especially with a cheap pump... flow restriction++ on this block)

good luck!

oh - draw out your plans BEFORE you start cutting. it helps to have a concrete (well, probably paper) idea of where you are going with the project.
 
Thanks, I've just started to draw it out and figure out how I'm going to do it. I'm thinking of doing it in three layers, round core use a hack saw (or similar) and cut it out making it a circle with two holes for 1/2 ID barbs drilled into the side, top layer will probably be a think piece of lucite and the bottom a copper plate or maybe a modified heatsink like this one. It sounds pretty simple to do, just have to get some supplies for soldering it together I guess.
I'll have to develop it more though but I think thats going to be pretty close to what I want.

I have to get some stuff for my heater core and then the pump and tubing then I'll start on this.
 
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