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Handmade Heatsinks

Cam453

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So I've been creeping around the forum for a while and after successfully building my first laser I've decided to build a few more for my brother and I. Something I haven't really found is if anyone actually makes their own heatsinks out of aluminum rod without a lathe, and if there is any tips to making them as clean as possible. :anyone:
 
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GBD

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What power tools do you have access to?
(Ex. Drill press, bench grinder, hand drill? etc)

I can give you a few pointers to do these latheless pending what you already have to work with.
 
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benmwv

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Well I imagine a simple cylinder heatsink wouldn't be all to hard, just cut your aluminum to length, drill a 12mm hole, somehow use that hole to put on a drill press and hold a sandpaper block to it until you reach the desired diameter. The trouble is that most heatsinks are a bit more complicated than just a cylinder, and just a simple lip would make it much harder to create your own heatsink.

I suppose if you were patient you could make your own c6 heatsink for example but you would spend quite a long time doing it to get it right.
 

GBD

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^^^ That, or my personal favorite:

Before I had my lathe I was just drilling a hole into some aluminum stock (12mm).. put an ~11mm bolt into it, and then secured it with a nut and washer so I have my blank piece with a bolt stuck in it.

Placed the bolt into the chuck of a hand drill, and held the aluminum against a bench grinder (fine wheel made for aluminum and soft metals, disks made for steel will gum up fast from aluminum) and worked it into that shape...
spinning the hand drill against the direction that the wheel was going in, that shaved metal pretty quickly, with enough manipulation, might be able to make a simple lip like Benmwv says.

but again... I think any of these methods are useless unless the OP has any power tools to begin with... I don't even want to think about doing this fully by hand with files :p
 
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Cam453

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I have access to a hand drill and that is pretty much it. But thanks for the tip
 
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GBD

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Okay, hand drill, good start.

I suggest you do the bolt method... but.. since the grinder is out of hte question..

Do you have some type of bench vice or any other type of sturdy vice? If so, you could use it to clamp a file (or any other abrasive surface.. but files are probably best here)

and then hold the piece down against it while you spin it in the hand drill... This is slow and tedious mind you, but you can shave down piece to some simple shapes.
 
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Cam453

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Yes I do that seems like it would be my best option. Thanks for the info :thanks:
 

benmwv

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What are you wanting to make a heatsink for? Make sure you measure the inside diameter of the host and get the closest (but not under) size stock so you will have to do less work.

It would also help to have a heatsink made on a lathe for the host so you can compare to it and use it as a guide.

I think I might try and make a heatsink too, gbd where do you buy aluminum? Online Metal Store | Small Quantity Metal Orders | Metal Cutting, Sales & Shipping | Buy Steel, Aluminum, Copper, Brass, Stainless | Metal Product Guides at OnlineMetals.com seems to be fairly cheap (I really don't know the going rate) a foot of 1 inch diameter is five bucks.
 
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i just take the piece off aluminum drill my hole in it (12mm) and then add aluminum washers that are the desired lip size with thermal paste and (if needed drill a hole in the washers ..... theres much less work this way:D
 

GBD

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1" stock @ 5$/ft sounds a tad pricy.. I buy my aluminum stock from some stores around here locally (scrap metal places, metal supply stores, etc), thier price is roughly the same. (a bit less due to no shipping obviously)

Usually if I need brass, Ti or SS in any large ammount I go to this ebay guy eBay My World - lowcostmetals
This guy also has a listing of 1" X 48" round stock for 13$.. which is a bit of a better deal then the 5$/ft

Been treating me good so far.... but boy let me tell you, doing this method myself once, I quickly appreciated how my lathe can do a C6 heatsink in less then a minute..
 
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Cam453

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I already have the aluminum stock and the first laser I built came with a heatsink. I almost have all the parts to drill and tap the sink to add a set screw but I just wanted to see if anyone had tips on the process.
 
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1" stock @ 5$/ft sounds a tad pricy.. I buy my aluminum stock from some stores around here locally (scrap metal places, metal supply stores, etc), thier price is roughly the same. (a bit less due to no shipping obviously)

Usually if I need brass, Ti or SS in any large ammount I go to this ebay guy eBay My World - lowcostmetals
This guy also has a listing of 1" X 48" round stock for 13$.. which is a bit of a better deal then the 5$/ft

Been treating me good so far.... but boy let me tell you, doing this method myself once, I quickly appreciated how my lathe can do a C6 heatsink in less then a minute..

Oh god you lucky bastard! Wish I had a lathe. I have done this method now... what, 8 times? and not just out of soft, 6061 aluminum, but out of copper too :p Lemme tell ya, that's hard.
 

GBD

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Its all about having the right tool for the job mate!

Just wait until you get into 6AL-4V Ti and SS!
 
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Cam453

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Ahh DX..... Why must they take so long. They were the first company I ordered from about a week before the rest and now the are the last to ship :crackup: I guess that's what I get for ordering from a Chinese company.
 




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