Do you think I could carve out a 1inch copper block with a dremel?

[ZeroAce]

Or would that require a bench drill press?

I have this crazy idea that I could make my own waterblock.

[Telexen]

No..machinists have the necessary tools to make waterblocks ... a dremel wouldn't handle it

[ZeroAce]

But a bench drill press would?

I read something about a guy building his own waterblock using nothing but a small drill press to carve out the channel.

[Idigguns]

Actually, you could use a Dremmel or a drill press to make a waterblock. You'ld need lot's of patience and plenty of free time. It would be hard to make it look real pretty, too. So, yes, it could be done. Would you want to try it? Probably not. I know I wouldn't. If you do want to try, just find a place locally that sells metal. Go there and ask if they have scraps of copper plate. Most places have lots of scraps laying around that they sell, cheap. Get a vice to hold the copper block and try some different metal cutting bits. Try experimenting on a scrap piece before you try it for real. You'll also need to tap the holes for the hose fittings and for the bolts to hold the two pieces together. By the time you buy all the necessary tools, it'ld probably be cheaper to just buy one.

[RedFury]

Hey, give it a shot. You don't have anything to lose, right? Just make sure you can confirm flow/water tightness before you slap that sucker on an active processor/mobo.

If you have access to a drill press, I would say that that would be your best bet because of the stability issue ( less chance for the bit to travel )

If it were me, I'd make my channels with the drill press, and clean them up with the dremel. I guess though, I'd probably buy the waterblock itself,and build my pump/resevoir/radiator myself....just for the simple fact that it is such a critical component in a water cooling set up. I just don't trust my m@d 5kil!z enough.

Let us know what you decide...be nice to see if it is possible, and what would be required to make it work.

[Scott Tiger]

Well, correct me if I'm wrong but a 1" copper block is probably a pretty expensive chunk of metal. You'd stand to loose quite a bit if you mess it up.

[Brainchild]

Can't you use aluminum for this,it's a lot easier to work with,cheaper to buy.I would think you could do it with aluminum fairly quickly.
I would think aluminum would disapate heat very well.

[thekingofpain]

My machine tool pal says copper is one of the tougher materials to work---anythings possible tho...(id buy one premade, there are plenty of good ones out there)

[ZeroAce]

The idea was to use pieces of scrap copper, otherwise the cost in materials and the trial and error would make it cheaper to just buy the pre-made block.

I'm doing at least a three block system (almost $50 each), with a hard drive block (can't remember the exact cost, but somewhere between $70-$100)

And if I want to buy the Geforce 3 kit with that secondary L shaped ramchip waterblock, it would cost me about an extra $50.

So when you are looking at $250 to $300 just in waterblocks, it doesn't sound like such a bad idea to buy a $130 drill press and $20-$50 on materials.

A big bonus is that when I switch to a geforce 4 or higher I won't have to buy a new waterblock, I can make my own or modify my existing one.




My biggest concerns about this so far:

-Cost and quality of copper materials. At this point I still don't know where I can get some, or how much they will cost.

-Smoothing out the inner channel. I can probably get it reasonable strait with the drill press, but I might have to buy a dremel or something to get a smooth finish.

-Idigguns mentions tapping the screw holes for the hose fittings... I hadn't thought much about this, I assumed I could use the drill press for that.
I do have a tap and die set for an electrical hand drill, maybe that will work?

[ZeroAce]

If it were me, I'd make my channels with the drill press, and clean them up with the dremel. I guess though, I'd probably buy the waterblock itself,and build my pump/resevoir/radiator myself....

Ok, the reservoir is an easy one.. but how the heck are you suppose to build a radiator and pump by yourself?

The waterblock seems much more straitforward and simple than a pump and radiator... It just looks like it takes a lot of percision and patience.