screwed up lapping

Is there any way to fix a screwed up lap?

IS it really supposed to look like a mirror?

Even if it isn't can I get the mirror finish back again?

I got an SLK-900 and I lapped it with 600 grit only.

When I got it there was a ridge near the middle of the heatsink so I decided to lap it..

i'm getting 42C idle at 1.8V on a palomino 1800+ @ 2000+
52C Load

Is it supposed to be that hot?

The fan on the Sink is a vantec thermoflow.

no it should be that hot... pics? what exactly did you do? no it does not have to be a mirror finish, but thats what many people do.

what fan are you using, depending on the fan those temps coule be perfectly normal. I beleive it would be possible to fix the lap if you did it badly but you will have to work extra hard to make sure the surface is nicely done and flat. If you start stepping up toward 1500grit sand paper you CAN get the mirror finish back and have it lapped nicely and flatly, use a nice flat piece of glass on a flat surface in your basement perhaps to attempt the lapping, it will help you get the bottom flat.

You can fix a "screwed up" lap. Just lap it again. I hope you followed BillA and Graystar's instructions to get as flat a HS as possible (sand in one direction only, never rotate). Going up to 600 grit is fine. I only went to 600 grit, myself. You don't need a mirror finish. Mirror finish and flatness are 2 different things. What are your ambient and system temps? If your ambient temps are pretty high, then 52C load would be okay. However, if your ambient temps are low and your system temps are high, you need to get better airflow through your case. The best way is to check your temp when running with the side panel off. If it drops significantly, then you need better airflow. However, you may also want to remount your HS to make sure you had good contact and also try reapplying the thermal compound using the instructions provided on arctic silver's website.

My air con is OFF
and i'm sweating sitting down in front of my computer with a 16" oscillating fan blowing intermittently in my face....

I'm going to check my ambient now.

I'll also report temps on an open case.

Holy **** the ambient temp is 30c in my ROOM! and it looks like the thermometer its still RISING!!@!@!
And its NIGHT TIME
holy crap
talk about bad airflow in my ROOM....
anyway OPening my case did NOthing...
My motherboard northbridge went UP 1c .... thats about it..
wow this is insane... I never thought 30c felt like this