Lapping a Glaciator II questions?

[earthdick]

I've been reading as much as I can in the cooling section regarding lapping of heatsinks before I attempt to lap my Glaciator II. I ran across this article "Why Heatsink Polishing Might Be A Bad Idea" by Simon Watkins - 5/14/01; on the hsf tips page of overclockers.com. He recommends that you "Try using only up to 600 paper on your heatsinks, no finer. "

From what I've been reading in the threads there seems to be a consensus to polish the heatsink until it shines. I'm confuse, please elucidate me with your opinions, yea or nay.
Thanks.

[Sonny]

Well the idea of lapping is to get the base as flat as possible toget good contact with the core. When you "polish" the base you are really just trying to make sure it is totally flat but nobody can really do that without a machine. Also one of the ideas of lapping only so much is that you do not remove too much material to maintain the clamping force of the clip.

There is a little problem with the article as there are different kinds of sandpaper. The automotive grit of 600 is more like 800 for normal sanpapers & tend to get lighter & act like 1000 grit after a while.

[AntmanMike]

Yah. I just got a new supply of 1500. Now i can really lap! And make a new mirror while im at it.

[Wicked Klown]

Originally posted by sonny
just trying to make sure it is totally flat but nobody can really do that without a machine.



I would have to disagree. When my waterblock got here the side of it had deep gashes in it. By the time I was done it was completely flat and smooth. I just depends on how much time you want to spend on it.

[AntmanMike]

You cant prove its completely flap and smooth on the atomic level. I really doubt that an atomic flatness can be done at all!

[Sonny]

Originally posted by Klownin79
I would have to disagree. When my waterblock got here the side of it had deep gashes in it. By the time I was done it was completely flat and smooth. I just depends on how much time you want to spend on it. I have attached a pic to better illustrate my point. The red line, cant get any straiter than that on paint, is your lapped surface. You will always be at an angle when you lapp by hand. You can check to see if the surface is even & many times it is but it'll be off by some degree in relation to the original base structure. I know that you rotate the sink to be able to minimize this when lapping, keyword is minimize. When this happens you will have uneven pressure on the core. Often it is minimal & probably does not affect your cooling but the point is it is really not that flat.

[AntmanMike]

true. ill have a robot do it!

[Sonny]

LOL!!!!!

[Wicked Klown]

Boy I'm glad none of my stuff looks like that. I guess I was givin a gift. My Father who was a Machinist in the U.S.N. and who use to build houses taught me everthing I know about sanding. He look at it and was very happy with the results. And we all know how picky the U.S.N. is.

[Sonny]

The pic is an exaggeration to help get my point across:rolleyes:

I give up. You win:beer:

[VegetaQ]

I don't know about anyone else. But myself and my roomate lapped our heatsinks with 400----800----2000 Grit Sandpaper. It looks like a mirror finish, and although I know you cannot get it perfectly flat i was sure to rotate it every once in a while to be sure I did not unevenly sand it. And after I cleaned the old CPU artic silver off and reapplied i did notice it was a good degree cooler (It was pretty scratched up though.) I know my roomate says his was cooler as well. I just figured id add my expearence to the pot. But I think it works well almost polished.

[oc jason]

man it aint hard at all to get it 100% flat, either set it on a flat surface, that is actually flat (sheet of glass) or just use a level on. That is the closest you can get by doing it by hand, otherwise get a laser micormeter

[dreadlord79]

We had almost this same question raised by myself in HSF Survey alittle higher up. GO to this link:
http://forums.overclockers.ws/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=51476
Then drop down about 3/4th of the page to DODGEVIPER's post to see all the way he goes about lapping.

:eek: WARNING! This will take a Loooonnnnngggggggg time to do!!!

Hope this helps a little. :)