thanks leejsmith I'll look into it in the next couple days...
I put my videocard on my scanner and scanned it in..
the final image kept comming in squed but i think i have it compensated enough now...
my copper i ordered came in:) so hope to get started on it next weekend...

Thanks Jabo,

the x-y vice was cheap and would jump when the mill bit into the copper.
I would like a mill but cant afford one at the moment.

I have made loads of blocks in the past including cascade clones with help from cathar still have them collecting dust in the workshop. One was a cascade style gpu block but i never tested it.

thanks for the tip on rswww i get loads of stuff from them including the brass barbs.

i used a 6mp digital cam on a tripod still have the pics for that too.

Yeah, it tends to be a tad jumpy but when I was going really slowly I managed to keep it in a straight line. Also, what was quite interesting at least for me personally ;) , I discovered that I could avoid edmill jumps by moving the vice in different direction. If I remeber correctly by moving the piece towards the column bit was biting to the left hand side and since I was removing stock making a cavity I managed to get a very nice and clean edge on the right hand side. When I got to the other end I simple moved the vice away from the column giving me good results on both sides.
As far as mills are concerned... yeah, welcome to the rip-off Britain LOL!
The cheapest new I saw were Clarke mills ant Machine Mart and Axminster stuff - roughly £275 a pop. The downside of 'em was quite weak motors - 150 watters...
My one is Clarke CDP210B if I rember correctly with 370w motor.
I think I'll skip barbs in the block I am currently making and simply braze 1/2"pipes - not nuff thickness to get any half decent thread going... - otherwise rswww are quit handy :P

I finaly got my design done...
here is the pic of the acad drawing
http://www3.telus.net/MadHacker/ProC...acadSketch.jpg
The yellow circles are capacitors that are realy close to the block so I decided to include them.

and with it printed and on the block.
http://www3.telus.net/MadHacker/ProC...Predrilled.jpg

Thoughts? changes?

was just thinking ... if I use a drill bit i will have a bunch of little divits in some of the areas.
can I use a mill bit (i beleive they are flat on the bottom instead of a drill bit?)
I don't have an XY vise, all I have is very cheep drill press i payed $40CDN for new.

Madhacker, theres a huge problem with your design, that being how you will make it. There is virtually no way you can drill holes that close together, the drill will wander into another hole and probably break on its way in. You have to drill them far enough apart so they nearly touch but not closer.

Jon

Each 1/2" hole is 1/4" appart...
I was planning to start drilling all the holes(that aren't over the GPU)with 1/4" bit then go to a larger size untill I reach 1/2"
Since I have never done this before I'm hopeing this will work...
Worst case I can drill all the holes by 1/4" then ever second hole by 1/2" and use my dremmel to remove the excess...
I'm not planning to do any drilling on it yet untill I get some feedback from you guys, the pros who have done this before......
If you think the holes are to close together how far apart should they be?

The larger drill bits will wander that close it would be better to use the 1/2 drill bit so they dont overlap leaving enough copper around each hole to stop the drill bit from slipping and remove the rest with smaller drill bits and then finish with a dremel cutting disk. it will take time but will work thats how i did mine even though my drawing showed only small holes.

I have my pc in bits at the moment due to motherboard upgrade and i mave my 6600gt out so i can see how it fits, But i am thinking of sticking with the maze4 gpu and fitting some ram sinks. I think the cooler is just too big.

Patients is the best tip i can give you hadhacker copper is the worst to work with. keep it cool and give it plenty of wd40 to stop it gripping the drill bits.

I guess I'll drill every other hole....
I'm using motor oil and seems to work pretty good...
how did you find your temps/OC were when you were using the block you made?

I dont know i havent finshed it yet but i am very close.

I gave up on the copper shim as it was only 0.7mm thick and didnt make any contact with the ram. i tried 2 pieces but it didnt work problems with the copper not being flat. I am currently sanding 1 pennys down to 1.2mm.

My maze4gpu gave me temps of 34C and would auto overclock to 600/1200 with the latest drivers. I plan to volt mod the core with a bios hack too.

the 2 pieces of copper i got are to thick... so i will be sanding them down when teh time comes... the pieces i bought were just 1.5"x5/8"x0.048(18ga.) 2 of them to cover 2 pieces of ram per piece of copper.. which is about 1.21920mm thick...
to thick...
perhaps 1mm?

<edit>
can you keep me posted on what you do for the volt mods and bios mods?
</edit>

I found a bios updater that can change the default core volt here

http://www.mvktech.net/ (not working at the moment but it did yesterday)

i think they also have a volt mod just using a pencil.

I just sealed the clear top with silicon sealant will leak test it tomorrow and finish the memory shims.

This is my first diy waterblock. After buying my 6600gt i looked on the internet for a waterblock, and found this site which inspired me to make my own waterblock.
It covers the core, ram and agp bridge chip. Most of the work was done on a bridgeport milling m/c. The barbs and shim/spacers are solder on using a blowtorch. The top is made from acrylic but was cracking around the holes so a new one was made out of polycarbonate, i also replaced the countersunk bolts with normal bolts and washers. I used green gasket sealant (car gasket sealant) between the polycarbonate top and copper base.I made a backplate to help support the weight of the waterblock, made from 6mm plastic cut to size and drilled then M3 tapped for the bolts.

http://jwilley.users.btopenworld.com...ck009SMALL.jpg

http://jwilley.users.btopenworld.com...ck044SMALL.jpg

http://jwilley.users.btopenworld.com...ck018SMALL.jpg

http://jwilley.users.btopenworld.com...ck017SMALL.jpg

Looks realy sweet...
now I hate the fact that i only have a $30 drill press...
I have drilled teh 4 mounting holes and by then i realised that the vise i have realy sucks so I'm going to get a better one this weekend...
then i will start drilling more holes.

How much to make another one for me ?

OK i got some work done on my block over the last few days...
After 1 1/2 hours
http://www3.telus.net/MadHacker/ProC...ideoBlock1.jpg

After 3 hours
http://www3.telus.net/MadHacker/ProC...ideoBlock2.jpg

After 4 1/2 Hours
http://www3.telus.net/MadHacker/ProC...ideoBlock3.jpg

Next I have to trim down the block and try to get it a bit lighter...

<edit> when I solder it to gether in the oven... what temperature should I set the oven and for how long should it be on for?</edit>

Is there a reason why you are not using a slot drill on these blocks?

Umm.. because I don't have one?
what's a slot drill?
I'm doing all this on my $30CDN drill press.(it's kinda krappy and has no real power) but it works...