DIY block performance
 

All the DIY blocks I've tested thus far:

http://phaestus.procooling.com/temp/diyblocks.jpg

incoherent's crater block and jaydee's r-type are both very competitive with mainstream commercial offerings.

Cool. Everyone of those blocks has room for improvment aswell. Thanks for the testing pH!

Thanks pHaestus. I will get you some comments tomorrow. Been a bit tied up.

r-type wins on pressure drop I think jaydee. :)

may you post pics from the blocks?

yeah pics would be great!

I would luv some dxf files, but im guessing it isnt going to happen

Some old Crater pics

Finally a block close to what i had in mind for some years already!

The Lumpy Channel and the R-Type both have reviews posted in the review section with pics. R-Type is in my avatar aswell.

All I have is a solid works 2003 drawing of the base of the Lumpy channel block. I don't have any useful .dxf files anyway. All mine are in 2D and not in a complete file. I have one for the holes to drill, one for milling the channels, one for milling the outside inlet/outlet area, one for the o-ring groove, one for the holes ect.....

That is the only way my CNC mill works. Dosn't have a 3D capable controller.

Re: DIY block performance
 

is there such a thing as a small (tiny) cnc machine that would do just for small things like blocks, and plastics???

Re: DIY block performance
 

Do you really want to spend $2,000USD+ just to mill a few blocks?

http://www.desktopcnc.com/mill_table.htm

Re: DIY block performance
 

no.

lol
i wasnt expecting it to cost that much... well now i know, thanks.

Re: DIY block performance
 

NEXT question,

What cheap (sub 100$) small hand type mill would you recomend for water blocks (copper), IF there even is such a thing... i can get a drill press for sub 100$ and that might work... also i have a dremel, and the dremel press "attachment" i saw was around 40$... would that work??

Re: DIY block performance
 

Cheapest one I know of worth bothering with is the little harbor freight one for $259USD: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=47158

Drill press and dremel will work ok. Not sure the dremel press attachment would be to usefull though.

Re: DIY block performance
 

for the dremel press thing, i was thinking to drill small holes...?? or would the drill press (sub 3,000rpm 3k not 30k) work well with copper and small bits, while the dremel gets 35k (35,000rpm not 3,500rpm)?

Re: DIY block performance
 

I am really not sure. Never used a dremel to drill holes being I always used my CNC mill or Drill press. 3,500RPM maybe ok if you go real slow and keep good lube on it. Copper is a bitch to work with. It is soft and dense. Likes to snap bits real fast.

Re: DIY block performance
 

Dremel's Drill press attachement is useless with small drill bit (smaller then 1/16")

Specially the solid carbide kind as it has too much free play.

I learned the above the hard way tring to drill holes in a Printed circuit board I had just did. After drilling 8 holes , I had broken 12 drill bits.

You might want to try it, but I suggest that you buy the drll press attachement from a local dealer which would allow you to return it if you are not satisfied.

Best regards

frenchnew

Re: DIY block performance
 

here is something I know a little about. Dot even think of drllinh copper with the dremel drill press. You aint gonna like it. Sure it can be done if you peck drill and have all day and night and some of the next day.

Like JD said, drill press. $50 to $100. But dont try and get creative and mill with it. (Havent we talked about all this way back when?) Drill presses are desinged for one type of load. Direct down force, you start getting side loads on those bearings and ugly stuff will happen. And just so you know and just so i know it was said, you cannot hold a peice of material in your hands and try to drill or machine it. Bandaids will happen.


The x2 mill Harborfreight anf grizzly sells them, they are cheap and descent. There are also some CNC retro kits for them. Also I beleive that you can get an larger table for them as well.

Now i know whats going to happen, your gonna go look at harbor freight and see one of those X Y tables. And your gonna get he idea of bolting that to your drillpress and poof, instant manual mill. Go for it!!!!!!! lolol, (I been down that road) You will hurt something not to mention, you have no real way of measuring or dialing anything in.

Machining is not easy, nor is it fast. it takes alot of time and patience not to mention money.

Sorry for my typing, but im one handed these days.