Waterblock Lapping

[Sanjuro]

Has anyone tried lapping their waterblock with a mouse sander? Would it be a practical way to lap a block?

[Monaco]

Is that like an orbital sander, an electric sander? They are ok for quick jobs but the goal is flatness, smoothness is secondary. I've never seen a powered sander do as good a job as sandpaper taped to flat glass. Of course my sander sucks pretty bad.

[Qube]

Not recommended. Unless you have the sander and the block mounted on an absolute parallel plane, don't do it. You run the risk of offsetting the bottom.

Just put some 800 grit and about 5 minutes into it. Remember, the point is NOT a flat and mirror finish, but a smooth finish.

[Monaco]

Qube, what? the idea of lapping stuff is to make it lie as flush as possible to the mating surface, ie the perfectly flat CPU core. You can lap a block smooth but egg-shaped which is pointless. So you need it as flat as possible, and as smooth as you feel like.

Or did I totally misunderstand you?:D :D

[William]

what? Not a flat finish? You want it to be perfectly flat. The mirror finish just looks cool. Smooth and Flat is what you want. Most of the water blocks are pretty good as far as finishing goes especially the DangerDen ones. Your choice on lapping.

[Sanjuro]

Thanks a lot guys... that was really helpful

[Billvill]

The best advise I have ever seen about lapping was right here at oc.com . Using just a little valve grinding compound and rubbing the heatsink against the chip will make a very good even mating surface. Make sure to clean it off and use a little artic silver between the two when your done lapping of caorse.

Billy