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Originally Posted by crazylittleman
1. I'm just trying to get a basic idea of what tools and materials are needed for a diy waterblock?
2. -I have access to a basic hand tools (files, hacksaw etc) as well as a dremel, Bandsaw, bench grinder and a drill press, what other tools would be required for construction?
3. -How difficult is it to make a basic waterblock?
4. The base plate is 55x55x5
The top and bottom plates would be made from copper while the middle would be plexi.
The middle area with indents is 28x28.
Middle plexi section is 7mm high with the top copper plate a further 3mm high.
5. So based on that any ideas which part of that design would work well and what is in the totally wrong direction?
6. Would an aluminium block perform dramatically different to a copper one?
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1. It really depends on your design. For example the
#rotor waterblock could be made with your collection of tools.
I too am working on a fairly easy to machine waterblock design that you might be interested in:
http://forums.procooling.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=13359
2. You already have the basics and will need to design your block with those tools in mind. I would however warn you that acrylic is very difficult to cut cleanly with rotary tools. Acrylic won't cut very easily with abrasive tools. I would recommend looking into getting a scrollsaw if you want to cut plastics.
3. Time consuming, but not the most difficult thing in the world to accomplish. Requires alot of patience.
4. Plexi isn't a material, but rather a family of plastics. If you want a very easy to machine and durable plastic I recommend using polycarbonate. It machines similarly to aluminum and has good chemical resistance. The only negative to using it is that you have to keep it away from bleech, which isn't something you should be putting in your loop anyways.
Acrylic won't be too workable with any of your tools except for the bandsaw and drillpress. If you plan to do any interior cuts you may be able to do so with coarse stone griding tools, but not with cut-off discs.
5. You base piece is a little too thick and doesn't have a terribly effective channeling or pin configuration. Read around in this forum section a little more to get an understanding of what makes a block effecient and what does not. You could alter your design to make it similar to the #rotor with iron cross pins made with a combination of drilling and dremeling and you'll end up with a fairly decent block.
6. Aluminum has lower thermal conductivity and thermal capacitance. You also do not want to mix aluminum and copper in your watercooling loop if you can help it (most radiators for example are made from copper) as it will require you to add a higher concentration of antifreeze to your loop in order to stave off galvanic corrosion. Aluminum is a great material for heatsink fins because it bleeds thermal energy off faster than copper, but it's not as effective as a base material.
Your measurements are heading in the right direction in that the base doens't need to be any larger than 55x55mm and only the center 30mm square needs turbulent flow from fins or pins. However you are lacking an effective set of fins or pins that penetrate into the base.