1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:08,559 So, you might have seen our last attempt at making a heat sink where we took a 2 00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:14,000 reciprocating saw to a block of aluminum with what could best be described as 3 00:00:11,599 --> 00:00:19,840 limited success. But, of course, persistence is the name 4 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:26,240 of the game here at LMG. So, we went through the YouTube comments which were 5 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:30,880 full of suggestions about casting our 6 00:00:26,240 --> 00:00:34,320 own heat sink from molten aluminum and 7 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:36,399 decided to set about doing it. But is 8 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:41,200 that really the kind of thing that you can do with $100 worth of supplies and 9 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:44,950 an empty warehouse? Well, there's only one way to know for 10 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:54,079 sure. 11 00:00:54,079 --> 00:01:01,920 Browse privately and securely with Tunnel Bear, the simple VPN app. Try 12 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:07,200 Tunnel Bear for free at the link in the video description. 13 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:11,600 So, casting then. I guess we'll need a 14 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:14,400 couch to No, we're talking about the 15 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:19,840 kind of casting where a molten material is poured into a mold so that it 16 00:01:16,960 --> 00:01:26,400 solidifies in the desired shape. There are a couple of important elements that 17 00:01:22,159 --> 00:01:29,360 you need. A foam or plastic replica of 18 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:35,520 the intended finished design and a material that you can mold around it 19 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:38,640 that can hold its shape. The primary 20 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:41,920 design considerations for our heat sink 21 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:44,479 were how easy it would be to cast and 22 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:50,320 how much heat it could dissipate. We kept it as simple as possible in Solid 23 00:01:47,439 --> 00:01:55,920 Works with the two pieces coming off the heat sink being to allow for the metal 24 00:01:52,960 --> 00:02:01,439 to be poured into one end and the gases to vent out of the other. And the mold 25 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:07,040 had to be orientated in such a way that the bottom would be the most likely 26 00:02:03,439 --> 00:02:09,039 surface to have a smooth, flat finish. 27 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:14,720 Although the fins ended up thicker than we'd have liked, when it comes to heat 28 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:17,840 sinks, size matters, and we calculated a 29 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:21,200 theoretical heat dissipation of over 200 30 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:25,520 watts. So then we went ahead and printed 31 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:28,000 our design using PLA plastic at 103% 32 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:33,519 size to account for the shrinkage of the aluminum during cooling. We chose PLA 33 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:39,920 because it's made from corn, so when it burns, it shouldn't poison us. 34 00:02:37,599 --> 00:02:45,680 To improve our odds of success, we needed castingrade aluminum. But buying 35 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:48,480 that stuff new is pretty expensive. 36 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:53,360 Fortunately, there's a large source of casting grade aluminum, the scrapyard. 37 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:59,040 So, we headed there and picked out our victim, extracting the engine out of 38 00:02:55,360 --> 00:03:01,360 this 2002 Toyota Yurus. Back in the 39 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:07,120 shop, we took apart the engine, cleaned off the dirt, and chopped it into pieces 40 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:10,480 small enough to melt. We used foam then 41 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:14,239 to extend our pouring and venting holes. 42 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:16,480 Then we mixed up clay, sand, and water 43 00:03:14,239 --> 00:03:23,040 until it reached a consistency where it was pliable but able to hold its shape. 44 00:03:20,239 --> 00:03:27,599 This mixture called green sand was packed around the 3D print and then 45 00:03:25,599 --> 00:03:33,840 baked for a couple of minutes to partially melt the plastic and to harden 46 00:03:30,319 --> 00:03:37,680 the clay. This whole process is called 47 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:40,080 lost PLA casting. We then placed the 48 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:44,319 aluminum scraps that we had into a graphite crucible, which is basically a 49 00:03:42,159 --> 00:03:48,879 a large cup that can withstand really high temperatures, and set about melting 50 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:55,120 the metal in a crude furnace that we made out of fire bricks. One of the best 51 00:03:52,319 --> 00:03:59,760 and worst things about aluminum is that when it's exposed to air, it almost 52 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:06,319 immediately forms an aluminum oxide layer on the surface. This is good for 53 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:09,439 preventing further corrosion, but it 54 00:04:06,319 --> 00:04:12,000 makes it very annoying for melting. So, 55 00:04:09,439 --> 00:04:18,000 it's important when casting then to remove the aluminum oxide layer that 56 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:22,639 floats to the top called dross so that it doesn't contaminate the finished 57 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:26,960 cast. With the dross removed, we were ready for our first pouring attempt. 58 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:33,840 Though it should be noted we weren't sure how much of the PLA had actually 59 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:37,840 melted on this one. Turns out 60 00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:41,199 not much. Clearly the aluminum barely 61 00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:44,000 made it into the mold and wasn't able to 62 00:04:41,199 --> 00:04:49,040 melt much of the plastic in the process. So to troubleshoot, then we made a 63 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:54,960 different riser design out of foam so that the aluminum would be able to enter 64 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:59,600 across the entire top of the mold. Green 65 00:04:54,960 --> 00:05:03,040 sand melt, purify, and pour again. And 66 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:05,440 we ended up once more with a face only a 67 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:11,199 mother could love. So, we moved on then from lost PLA 68 00:05:08,479 --> 00:05:17,600 casting to lost foam casting, which is an extremely popular and much easier way 69 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:22,960 of creating molds. Due to the low melting point of foam, when the aluminum 70 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:29,759 is poured in, it immediately melts it away and fills the space. In theory, our 71 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:35,840 foam mold wasn't perfect by any means, but we were cautiously optimistic that 72 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:38,960 it would work. So fire melt and pour 73 00:05:35,840 --> 00:05:42,479 again and we get to see what kind of a 74 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:44,000 result we were going to get. 75 00:05:42,479 --> 00:05:51,360 Unfortunately, this wasn't a massive success either. 76 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:55,039 Although the foam did melt away and we 77 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:57,520 were able to create a good base layer 78 00:05:55,039 --> 00:06:03,600 and even where the mounting plate would be was fairly well done, we simply 79 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:10,000 didn't have enough static pressure to force the molten metal up into the fin 80 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:13,199 shapes. We could solve this by creating 81 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:15,600 a much taller riser. But by this point, 82 00:06:13,199 --> 00:06:21,120 the time crunch had become real, and our engineering department realized that he 83 00:06:17,759 --> 00:06:24,800 needed to produce something usable or I 84 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:27,600 might melt him down. So, he made a clay 85 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:32,880 and fire brick sandwich and assembled a mold using a method that bears more 86 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:39,039 using a method that bears more resemblance to grade one art class than 87 00:06:35,759 --> 00:06:42,479 to precision crafting. 88 00:06:39,039 --> 00:06:44,720 To ensure on this the final attempt that 89 00:06:42,479 --> 00:06:52,479 the metal would thoroughly melt, the furnace was remade and heated until the 90 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:54,960 entire crucible was red hot. Upon 91 00:06:52,479 --> 00:07:00,080 pouring the aluminum into the mold, it started bubbling from the steam escaping 92 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:06,080 from the clay, making the metal of the finished product more porous, a problem 93 00:07:03,199 --> 00:07:12,400 we hadn't had before when we were using green sand. So then with a bit of 94 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:19,199 massaging from the reciprocating saw to make it fit on a motherboard, 95 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:22,800 it was finally ready to mount. 96 00:07:19,199 --> 00:07:25,039 The processor chosen was an Intel Q6600, 97 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:30,560 mainly because the old ASUS motherboard it was on was the only one where the 98 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:33,120 heat sink didn't interfere with the VRM. 99 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:37,840 And to help fill in the air pockets on the bottom of the heat sink, we added a 100 00:07:35,759 --> 00:07:43,520 more than generous dollop of thermal paste. Topping off the creation with a 101 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:48,000 handful of zip ties. 102 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:52,560 And this was actually the first time I 103 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:56,280 laid eyes on what three of my staff had 104 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:56,280 been doing all week. 105 00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:01,599 I don't know how anything could have been worse than what I was expecting, 106 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:05,720 but this may have achieved it. 107 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:14,160 I mean, the name of the series is 108 00:08:10,639 --> 00:08:17,199 sketchy heat sinks, and um 109 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:20,400 I guess mission accomplished there. With 110 00:08:17,199 --> 00:08:22,800 all of that said, testing an IDA 64 111 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:28,080 turned out better than expected. And sketchy heat sink number two was able to 112 00:08:25,599 --> 00:08:32,560 keep the CPU reasonably cool for a fairly long time. Although this is 113 00:08:30,319 --> 00:08:42,320 likely more to do with its large thermal mass than its ability to dissipate heat. 114 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:44,959 Ambitious but rubbish. 10 out of 10 IGN. 115 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:51,040 So yeah, in the end this turned out to be the no man's sky of heat sinks. Sure, 116 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:55,680 we had high goals set and we believed with the resources we had, we could pull 117 00:08:53,040 --> 00:09:00,240 it off. But it took three times longer than originally planned and the end 118 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:05,279 result performs poorly, looks bad, and has almost none of the features that we 119 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:07,360 said it would have in the beginning. 120 00:09:05,279 --> 00:09:11,040 So then, all that's left to say is thanks in advance to the metalworking 121 00:09:09,279 --> 00:09:16,000 experts who by now have filled the comments with advice. We will bear it in 122 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:21,760 mind for the next installment then of sketchy heat sinks. 123 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:24,640 Freshbooks is the small business 124 00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:30,000 accounting software. It's built from the ground up for how you work as a 125 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:34,959 freelancer or a small business owner. And it's the simple way to be more 126 00:09:32,399 --> 00:09:40,560 productive and organized. Not to mention to get paid more quickly and on your own 127 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:45,200 terms. You can take deposits. You can get paid faster. You can create and send 128 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:51,200 professionallook invoices in less than 30 seconds. You can track your expenses. 129 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:53,440 You can even see when your client has 130 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:58,160 seen your invoice to put an end to that, oh, did you send it? No, I didn't see 131 00:09:55,360 --> 00:10:03,279 it. Blah blah blah nonsense. 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