My single macro fin dual channel waterblock design
 

hello :)

basically, im doing a "budget" watercooling system, but that doesnt mean i want crappy performance !

there is a nice big macro fin that runs over the core and continues to help divide the flow of the water

the fin is 2mm high

i will be drilling with a 6mm drill down .5mm all around the channels to help create turbulance

it is bolted to the motherboard straight through the copper block

(its made of copper ;)

the top will be a 10mm perspex top which is screwed down at ~14 places combined with silicon evenly speard over the copper

(this was reccormended by my friend jamicon or m00j :))

please let me know what you think !

(i havent finished all the measurements yet obiously :))

cheers

also:

the mill i will be using isnt a CNC one ... its the one at my school

i feel abit... wussy with this design ive had a quick look at some of the other very impressive designs and im impressed! i think i will continue to hang around here

i would also like to know 2 other things:

where can i get some 1/2" barbs that wont corrode when used with copper

where can i get some spring bolts for my waterblock/mobo

cheers ! :)

Your local hardware store will have springs and bolts and nuts. You will be doing more work drilling and tapping 14 holes than is necessary, four will do the job with a thick and stiff top along with a plumbers gasket material. Use brass barbs also found at the hardware store although there are more exotic hose connections you could scour the online stores for. Good luck on your project and post up some pics when your done.:)

Why not a singel fin, instead of 3-??? the more you have the better the cooling.

the largest mill bit my school has (widest more like it) is 6mm the channel is 16mm wide so 16 - 6 - 4 - 6 its the best i can do :)

i was thinking 14 was alittle to much ...

explain the plumbers gasket material ?

and i certainly will have pics :)

im getting a heatercore this weekend, the copper and perspex block on monday which leaves the tubing and a pump

I think this block is totally wrong, and I will tell you my thoughts when I get home tonight. I think you can get better performance with half the milling!

Errrr, maybe I am looking at this wrong? I see a middle inlet, with the water going up, then spliting two ways and then down both sides of the middle and then routed into one outlet? Why not just one big channel in the middle with thre or 4 fins? The core is what you need to cool not the whole block. If you can successfully cool the core with a middle inlet then you need not worry about the rest.

Anyway if you totally disregard my thought, which is fine because I can be, have been, and will be totally wrong, then at least move the out let closer to the inlet so you have more room to seal and more room for the mounting hardware. No reason for the outlet to be so far back. Back just far enough for the water to merge effectively into one.

Good luck, looks like a "cool" project! Keep us posted.

i agree about the 90o turns however i would like to do a fin design but my schools smallest milling bitis 6mm wide....

which really sucks

the more i think about it the more i want to pay someone with a CNC to do it....

ill have more of a play with my design

imight end up with a complete cathar clone if i get a CNC machine :shrug:

You certainly do not need CNC for a Cathar Clone! Those are strait cuts. Shouldn't be a problem. The hard part is getting a end mill that small. I can get them but I don't have a damn collet on my mill small enough yet. Maybe give Cathar a jingle if you havn't already. I think you both are at least on the same continent. :D He might have some sources for milling stuff and or a good machine shop.

ive twice asked cathar for one of his blocks but twicec cancecld due to... guess what.... lack of money :)

he lives in melborne, i live in brisbane.... that is a large distance !

so i doubt he would have any contacts in my area

i want to get it CNC'd as i dont want to buy a part to do the block

so i just need to find someone whom will do it for me

ok heres a few of my ideas (some obiously stolen :P)

While your school doesn't have the bits you really need, bits are a whole lot cheaper than mills.

Why not buy yourself a couple small 2mm bits. these won't break near as easy as the smaller ones some guys are using now. And would allow a much greater design flexablity and a higher number of channels/fins for better cooling.

well ... ill be paying a company to do it...

its just easier

If it's a one-off job, expect to pay in the order of $300-500 at the least.

Machine shops are great for doing things, but not cheap. They don't usually carry everything they need to do a job when it comes in. They then order in parts and materials, and then do the job, which requires setup and fairly close manual operation because it's the first job. Basically you pay quite a bit for a one-off job at a machine job. If you then ask for 20 or more, the costs per item will drop dramatically because the setup costs get amortised over the batch.

i dont know where youve been shopping but i got a quote for around $20... alot cheaper me thinks :)

although nice to see you here cathar :)

A quote to do what exactly? No machine shop will charge just $20 to do milling. $20 won't even buy the mill bit.

mill it !

my friend had his block milled for $6

What the?

They are doing it for less than free? Machine shops around here charge $60an hour.

They laugh at people that bring in such small projects. The tooling alone is worth more than the block?

If this place is legit, CATHAR, needs to find it an have his WW's done there! :D

i dont know if they advertise the Aus dollar on the news but atm its something like $1 us = 59 Aus cents

Or just use a slitting saw: http://forums.procooling.com/vbb/sho...&threadid=5781

I used an on-line converter that says it is up to date as of today. :confused:

Here is a different one:

I think this one is right.

http://www.xe.com/ucc/full.shtml

I'm sorry, but unless they are doing all of the following:

1) Not charging for machine time
2) Not charging for tools
3) Not charging tax
4) Not charging for labour

There is no way in hell that a professional machine shop will be milling a block for $20 AUD (about $10 USD pre-tax), not unless they are a good friend, in which case maybe they're just asking for a token amount.

The professional machinists I use are charging around $70/hour (Australian dollars) for their time, which includes use of a large 4-axis CNC mill (not that I use all 4), and that excludes ongoing tooling costs. That is cheap. Many machine shops were asking for $100/hr, some up to $200/hr.

The Australian minimum wage is around $10/hour. A machinist typically earns $25-40/hour in wages.

If these guys are doing it for you as a favor, then just say so. The prices you're talking about are simply not realistic by any company interested in putting dinner on the table for themselves, let alone their wife and kids.

i dont really care if you belive me or not, these arnt mates rates !

compucut is the name of the business

here is my cathar clone

Attack of the clones ehy cathar ?

;)

this is pretty much your design, if it makes you feel better its for private use only, i may produce another for a friend while he will only pay the cost it costs me (plus some for my time)

but thats all i want to do :)

I want to see you get that milled for $20! It would be cheaper for me to have them do the blocks and ship them to me than it would for a local shop or even myself on my own mill!

I think you may want to look at the new Barton core and adjust the design slightly. They seem to have a wider core.