Lapping Sk6? Should I?

[ozzy0627]

Hi everyone, tonight I lapped my first heatsink for my chipset........it looks really cool like a damn mirror! And I had so much fun doing that for 2 hours (yah right ) I thought I would try my sk6....It looks pretty good though. You guys think I should lap it??? or just leave it be... Also if i do lap it I would be using 600 / 800 is that ok grit? thanks ron........

[ROH]

Not really all that needed. The SK6 is a great heatsink as it is for cooling. The benefit of lapping it is not really there. Chances are you will not see any improvement after you have lapped it as most of them are already well polished, very little in the way of defects in the bases on these. Before I decided to start building a watercool system (bong) I was thinking of blowing a wad on one myself! ;)

With the grit of sandpaper you have, you might even make it worse then before you lap it. When I lap I go all the way to 1500 grit and wet sand to get a good clean finish! I usually start with an 800 and go up from there. :) The paper you have might be good for getting rid of those grossly enhanced ridges etc.. but not the best for mirror shine! And BTW do not use any polish on the base as it will tend to insulate the HSF. and even it it looked nice it'll actually be a bad thing.

Hope this helps!

Orion

[ozzy0627]

man where to you find 1500 at??? I cant find anything better than 1000 .............Lowes,furrows, craftshops...etc

[ROH]

I got it from "Totem". And I wish I could say 1500 grit. Sorry I thought it was 1500 but it's actually 1200. I just checked the paper to make sure I wasn't lieing to ya. :(

Me, bad!

Orion

[Kendan]

You can get some at an auto parts store I have found 2000.

[Mr.Lansing]

I finished lapping my CPU with a 1500grit sandpaper
and it worked perfectly!
it lowered my temps by 3C - 5C!

[ROH]

Ya you have a different HSF though! The CAK38 in many cases could use a good lapping as it's got a rather rough machined base!

Look here for a pic.
http://hardocp.com/reviews/cooling/roundup0801/pic21.html

The SK6 on the other hand has a tendancy to look rather smooth as it is. I don't think it's a molded bas but Thermalright has done a good job getting it looking rather smooth.

Look here for a pic.
http://hardocp.com/reviews/cooling/roundup0801/pic36.html

I'm not saying NOT to lap your heatsink but to be very sure it actually needs it. and if you do lap it...make sure to get some very fine grit paper so as not to actually scuff it up more then it's current state. You can loose 1-3C or more if you do take the existing finish off.

[Thelemac]

You don't lap to make a shiny surface (well, you can, but it's largely not needed)...you lap to give yourself primarily a flat surface and secondarily a smooth surface. You don't really need to use a super fine grit for that...probably not more than 800 or so. You can go higher...but you probably aren't going to notice much difference. It would be a good idea to use ASII as a lube for that final round of lapping, though. :)

[mw521]

Here's a quick way to check and see if you need lapping. Take some 1200 grit and put it on your flat surface, glass, etc. I use a machined block I have. Rub your sink across it gently about once. This will leave some "scuff marks" on the surface. Are they evenly distributed? No gaps? If so you probably don't need to lap. If you have gaps or missed spots, lap it. To test the surface for machine marks etc., run your fingernail across the surface. If it feels too rough, lap it a little.:D

[tacobell]

I used 240-500-600-1200-1500

it was pretty bad :D.. but something weird happened.. when I switched from 1200 to 1500 it actually got worse.. don´t know why but with 1200 it was almost like a mirror, and when I used 1500 it lost that reflective appear..