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Whats the best way to cut a small heatsink?

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DumpALump

Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2002
Location
California, US
So I just purchased 125 of these old northbridge heatsinks that look similar to this one, only they are black. I've never messed with metalworking before so I have no idea how I'd go about cutting off the ends of some of these (the two tabs).

These aren't the copper $7-15 heatsinks with really high surface area, but my plan is to use these for all sorts of mosfets and anything that gets hot that is not normally cooled.

northbridge1smallne2.jpg
 
A good pair of diagonal cutters. Or Maybe snap them with some pliers and then debured them with a small file. A points file should do.
 
A good pair of dikes as turd said works well, but leaves very rough edges. If you have a dremel handy use that to cut and sand the sinks down. You'll need a bench vice.
 
A simple way I have cut them is to hold the sink in a bench vice and cut the section I need with a hack saw. After you cut them you can use a file to clean up the cut side.
 
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