Building my own water block, any advice?

[GrandmasterNeil]

I'm trying to ween myself over to water cooling and the kits are seemingly out of my pocket-range. Other than that, I think it would be a good experience building my own waterblock. I'm going to use copper, if any of you know good places to purchase copper blocks [~1/2" x 2" x any length] that would be a great help. Local suppliers are preferred as I hear some people get raped on shipping. I'm going to fabricate the block by carving out the design and soldering a top and bottom piece. Any thoughts on a "best" design? I'm leaning towards a water-in right over the CPU core and meandering at 90º angles out to the water-out. Also, I'm having a hard time looking for brass barbed hose nipples, if someone could point me in the right direction, that would be nice. Any other tips and advice are welcome.

Thanks in advance,
-Neil

 

[The Overclocker]

if you are unable to get metal from local places, www.onlinemetals.com have a very good delivery price. As for the brass barbs, i dont know, the only pace i have found them in the UK is at www.rswww.com, i dont know where to get them in the USA

 

[IFMU]

You can get barbs from any local hardware store. They normally vary pricing. From somewhere aro0und 50 cents to 2 some bucks. As far as a block would go, thats a harder call. You would need to find a store that deals in heavy metal supplies. Check out the yellow pages for your area, and look for welding supplies that kinda thing and call around...

Hope this helps a lil..

IFMU

 

[Robukool]

design

If you've got a pillar drill (drill press), and taps and dies i think it might be best to go for a cross drill design. I've took some ideas from this article:
http://www.overclockers.com/tips793
simple to make if you've got a drill press.

I had trouble finding some brass barbed nipples so I made my own from some ss bolts and some copper pipe.

 

[Tecumseh]

Welcome to the forums, GrandmasterNeil.

Making your own WB is fun and educational, but there
is a lot of design flux lately. So what is the best design?
Stick around for a while. It will change.

As a practical thing you can probably save money and
get a better WB by buying a commercial unit. OR, there
are guys here upgrading or experimenting who have
great WBs they might sell to you.

 

[KingB]

I know if you look in the finish plumbing section (Where you get all the stuff for faucets, taps and toilets) at Home Depot, they have all sorts of brass and plastic fittings that can be used.

If you need metal stock, I believe Danger Den sell copper and aluminum stock in various sizes.

Hope this helps, you are braver than I. I just sucked it up and bought a block.

BTW Welcome to the Foums