woot!!! progress. Just have to show off a few pics.
http://home.comcast.net/~jmcook3/wat.../scanblock.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~jmcook3/waterblock/shine.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~jmcook3/waterblock/scale.jpg

run time wound up being around 15 minutes after I got things optimized. I am pretty wure I could get it to around 10 minutes or so...but at this point why bother?

just some of the parameters I used, in case you are interest...

1/4" carb endmill ( this did the "open" pockets )
8000 RPM @ 24IPM ( inches per minute ) Depth of cut was around .08"

1/16" carb endmill 8000 RPM @ 20IPM this roughed the small areas where the 1/4 could not reach. Depth of cut was .04"

1mm cab e.m. 10,000 RPM @ 15 IPM. this did the channels. depth of cut was .01" but I was way to consertive on this & could easily double this. This would save the most time.

#10-32 tap. 1000 RPM. feed is relative to the speed, in this case it was 31.25 IPM impressive to watch a tap go in & out that fast.

I was pretty impressed about the machinability of copper. I have worked with it on a limited basis in the past, but my attitude towrd the stuff now is "balls out" simmilar to what I would do Aluminium. This is made out of good ol C110. If someone tells you this is tough to cut...well give them a piece of hastaloy or Inconel. I think that the tooling might have something to do with this also. Pretty much all we have are TiCN coated carbide endmills with lots of different geometry. Sure, it is a bit gummy, but a very sharp edge & flood coolant really helps out a bit also.

Look very smick. Congrats.

You would be singing a different tune if you where stuck with a desktop mill that doesn't go over 2,800RPM. ;) AL is butter compared to Copper on our small mills. :(

Nice work though! Can't wait to see the top with the barbs milled in it. :) Wish I had acces to that equipment and the knowlege to use it.

WOW! impressive stuff. I took 5 minutes tapping a hole once, and ended with a brocken tap.

Guess I didn't use the right size drill.

Impressive machine you've got there which could do that in ten minutes. Is there the risk of the tap breaking at that high rpm?

believe it or not, the tapping speed is slower than what would be considered "optimum."

using the formuals I posted earlier ( [SFPM X 4] / dia of your tool = RPM ) I would be running this tap at over 2000 RPM. However, the problem I have run into when running at much over 1000 RPM is the spindle does not have enough time to fully accelerate before the tap reaches depth. As far as tap breakage...well, I have broken more than my fair share. But, where this is relativly thin ( less than 1/4" ) and the hole is through I am/was not worried about it. There are advantages to power tapping over hand tapping....mainly that the tap is "square" to the part & dead center over your hole. When hand tapping it is best to do it while it is still in the machine, putting a center in your chuck/collet & using the center to help you guide the tap vertically. Not doing this will get you alot of broken taps. Good tapping fluid will go a long ways also.

A bit more on the run time...the first one took me over 1/2 hour. I played things way to consertive at first...but when I saw how well things were cutting, I went back & reprogrammed the thing. Still, I see more places that I could of cut the run time down. Also, this did not include the time I spent "squaring up" the stock...facing it off & such. the 15 minutes was just to drill the holes & cut the fins & pockets. As it is, my total machine time for 5 parts wound up being 1 hour per part....not inculding the time I spent here at home doing the initail design/programming. Tool life... I would honestly expect to run 50 or so before changing a thing.

just another side note...I have figured out how to cut my inlet design on a mill. While it is not as an ideal of a solution as cutting it on a wire EDM, I think it is very close. Basically, I will cut the cross from the backside 3/8" deep with a .094 dia endmill. Then, from the top side, I will generate down with a 1/8" ball endmill till I match up with the cut I made from the other side. This will get me very close to the effect I am trying to get at without waiting for months to get on a wire edm. Another bonus to doing in all on a mill is that I now might make the top out of lexan, should look very cool. I am thinking that hiding my cool looking X shape would be a damn shame........

Anyways, here is yet another pic of my now revised inlet.

http://home.comcast.net/~jmcook3/waterblock/inlet.jpg

you can see where the 1/8 endmill will blend into the 3/32 cut. not perfectly smooth, but a good comprimise...specially now considereing that I can make it out of lexan :D

that's wonderful :drool: :drool: :drool:

with what are you going to seal it? O-ring?

:drool: Stunning work there m8.

I don't care how it performs, if you fit a lexan top, i want it, NOW:)

Update...I actually now have money invested in this project. Today I ordered a chunk of acrylic...1 1/4" X 3 3/8" X 55". I can make 20 tops out of this piece( I only need 5 )...but it was cheap. $30. Seeing as how the barbs are intregrated, I am not to concerned about chipping. Time will only tell for sure tho.

http://home.comcast.net/~jmcook3/waterblock/top1.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~jmcook3/waterblock/top2.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~jmcook3/waterblock/top3.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~jmcook3/waterblock/top4.jpg

I will make things pretty looking soon. just wanted to show off :D

hmmm very nice :drool:
you did that with the cnc?

Great Job! I've never seen any WB (commercial or otherwise) so professional looking. :drool:

Is there a way to make the acrylic transperent again?

That looks great! You should drill some small holes so you can put some LED's in the top though =] I'm all for things that glow.

BO(V)BZ

Heating it with a blow torch works well, you have to take it slow though or the acrylic will catch on fire. Slow as she goes, in waves.