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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

cheapy copper heatsink advice wanted :)

Joined
Jul 22, 2010
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right, ive got a sheet of copper on its way(150x100x0.45mm), bare in mine i have no special tools like a lathe, ive got a hand drill (big and little) and thats basically it that could be handy, i go to a college that has a few big drills(that ones that are stuck to the floor) and a pillar drill, its got the standard tools that most schools and collage's would have; im sure i could use them cause ive made myself a couple of things there for myself.

could i just cut the copper roughly the size of the host(mini maglite) and file it down to size and drill holse through them and stick them together?

thanks for any help
matt
 





Joined
Oct 26, 2007
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Not to rain on your parade, but it may not be worth it. First, if you're going to spend any amount of time on something, get a better host than a mini-Mag. Second, sheets of any metal are not going to be very useful because you'll have gaps between them. Even plywood has binding agents to give keep things in one piece. You'd need some sort of thermal binding agent, and that would add to the cost, reduce the effectiveness of using copper, and you might as well just buy a solid piece of copper or aluminum instead. Third, how will you attach this "heatsink" to your diode? Attach it to the aixiz module? Bend it into place? You'd still need a way to really bind that to your module, and that'd cost a bit and require more precision.

I would save your copper sheet and use it for making fins in some future project. In its place, you can get a host with an aluminum heatsink for it. I'm looking forward to getting an Apollo kit for this very purpose.

What can you do with that sheet? Make a higher powered flashlight in a Maglite. Those LED stars will transfer heat nicely to a copper plate like that because they have a lot of surface area, and you can bend the sheet to try and transfer some of that heat to the casing. I've made that mod to a C-cell maglite that used some incandescent bulbs and it made a very nice bright LED flashlight. I know, not a laser, but hey, it's a good use.
 

JLSE

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Dec 13, 2007
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You could cut your pieces, coat them with flux, then solder the 'stack' while clamped with silver solder.

Id drill them after they are soldered nicely. The silver solder should help keep it
as a solid mass, and conduct fairly well.

It would be a lot easier to buy some 1in round stock and use it, but no access to a lathe and you will have to find a host that accepts the full size copper bars diameter...
 




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