WEBVTT 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 00:00:05.600 --> 00:00:14.000 reciprocating saw to a block of aluminum with what could best be described as 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:19.840 limited success. But, of course, persistence is the name 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:26.240 of the game here at LMG. So, we went through the YouTube comments which were 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:30.880 full of suggestions about casting our 00:00:26.240 --> 00:00:34.320 own heat sink from molten aluminum and 00:00:30.880 --> 00:00:36.399 decided to set about doing it. But is 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:41.200 that really the kind of thing that you can do with $100 worth of supplies and 00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:44.950 an empty warehouse? Well, there's only one way to know for 00:00:43.360 --> 00:00:54.079 sure. 00:00:54.079 --> 00:01:01.920 Browse privately and securely with Tunnel Bear, the simple VPN app. Try 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:07.200 Tunnel Bear for free at the link in the video description. 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:11.600 So, casting then. I guess we'll need a 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:14.400 couch to No, we're talking about the 00:01:11.600 --> 00:01:19.840 kind of casting where a molten material is poured into a mold so that it 00:01:16.960 --> 00:01:26.400 solidifies in the desired shape. There are a couple of important elements that 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:29.360 you need. A foam or plastic replica of 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:35.520 the intended finished design and a material that you can mold around it 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:38.640 that can hold its shape. The primary 00:01:35.520 --> 00:01:41.920 design considerations for our heat sink 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:44.479 were how easy it would be to cast and 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:50.320 how much heat it could dissipate. We kept it as simple as possible in Solid 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:55.920 Works with the two pieces coming off the heat sink being to allow for the metal 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 00:01:58.880 --> 00:02:07.040 had to be orientated in such a way that the bottom would be the most likely 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:09.039 surface to have a smooth, flat finish. 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:14.720 Although the fins ended up thicker than we'd have liked, when it comes to heat 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:17.840 sinks, size matters, and we calculated a 00:02:14.720 --> 00:02:21.200 theoretical heat dissipation of over 200 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:25.520 watts. So then we went ahead and printed 00:02:21.200 --> 00:02:28.000 our design using PLA plastic at 103% 00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:33.519 size to account for the shrinkage of the aluminum during cooling. We chose PLA 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:39.920 because it's made from corn, so when it burns, it shouldn't poison us. 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:45.680 To improve our odds of success, we needed castingrade aluminum. But buying 00:02:42.560 --> 00:02:48.480 that stuff new is pretty expensive. 00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:53.360 Fortunately, there's a large source of casting grade aluminum, the scrapyard. 00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:59.040 So, we headed there and picked out our victim, extracting the engine out of 00:02:55.360 --> 00:03:01.360 this 2002 Toyota Yurus. Back in the 00:02:59.040 --> 00:03:07.120 shop, we took apart the engine, cleaned off the dirt, and chopped it into pieces 00:03:03.760 --> 00:03:10.480 small enough to melt. We used foam then 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:14.239 to extend our pouring and venting holes. 00:03:10.480 --> 00:03:16.480 Then we mixed up clay, sand, and water 00:03:14.239 --> 00:03:23.040 until it reached a consistency where it was pliable but able to hold its shape. 00:03:20.239 --> 00:03:27.599 This mixture called green sand was packed around the 3D print and then 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:33.840 baked for a couple of minutes to partially melt the plastic and to harden 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:37.680 the clay. This whole process is called 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:40.080 lost PLA casting. We then placed the 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:44.319 aluminum scraps that we had into a graphite crucible, which is basically a 00:03:42.159 --> 00:03:48.879 a large cup that can withstand really high temperatures, and set about melting 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 00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:59.760 and worst things about aluminum is that when it's exposed to air, it almost 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:06.319 immediately forms an aluminum oxide layer on the surface. This is good for 00:04:02.720 --> 00:04:09.439 preventing further corrosion, but it 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:12.000 makes it very annoying for melting. So, 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:18.000 it's important when casting then to remove the aluminum oxide layer that 00:04:15.040 --> 00:04:22.639 floats to the top called dross so that it doesn't contaminate the finished 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:26.960 cast. With the dross removed, we were ready for our first pouring attempt. 00:04:24.880 --> 00:04:33.840 Though it should be noted we weren't sure how much of the PLA had actually 00:04:29.440 --> 00:04:37.840 melted on this one. Turns out 00:04:33.840 --> 00:04:41.199 not much. Clearly the aluminum barely 00:04:37.840 --> 00:04:44.000 made it into the mold and wasn't able to 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:49.040 melt much of the plastic in the process. So to troubleshoot, then we made a 00:04:46.400 --> 00:04:54.960 different riser design out of foam so that the aluminum would be able to enter 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:59.600 across the entire top of the mold. Green 00:04:54.960 --> 00:05:03.040 sand melt, purify, and pour again. And 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:05.440 we ended up once more with a face only a 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:11.199 mother could love. So, we moved on then from lost PLA 00:05:08.479 --> 00:05:17.600 casting to lost foam casting, which is an extremely popular and much easier way 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:22.960 of creating molds. Due to the low melting point of foam, when the aluminum 00:05:20.400 --> 00:05:29.759 is poured in, it immediately melts it away and fills the space. In theory, our 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:35.840 foam mold wasn't perfect by any means, but we were cautiously optimistic that 00:05:32.080 --> 00:05:38.960 it would work. So fire melt and pour 00:05:35.840 --> 00:05:42.479 again and we get to see what kind of a 00:05:38.960 --> 00:05:44.000 result we were going to get. 00:05:42.479 --> 00:05:51.360 Unfortunately, this wasn't a massive success either. 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:55.039 Although the foam did melt away and we 00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:57.520 were able to create a good base layer 00:05:55.039 --> 00:06:03.600 and even where the mounting plate would be was fairly well done, we simply 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:10.000 didn't have enough static pressure to force the molten metal up into the fin 00:06:06.880 --> 00:06:13.199 shapes. We could solve this by creating 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:15.600 a much taller riser. But by this point, 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:21.120 the time crunch had become real, and our engineering department realized that he 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:24.800 needed to produce something usable or I 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:27.600 might melt him down. So, he made a clay 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:32.880 and fire brick sandwich and assembled a mold using a method that bears more 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:39.039 using a method that bears more resemblance to grade one art class than 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:42.479 to precision crafting. 00:06:39.039 --> 00:06:44.720 To ensure on this the final attempt that 00:06:42.479 --> 00:06:52.479 the metal would thoroughly melt, the furnace was remade and heated until the 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:54.960 entire crucible was red hot. Upon 00:06:52.479 --> 00:07:00.080 pouring the aluminum into the mold, it started bubbling from the steam escaping 00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:06.080 from the clay, making the metal of the finished product more porous, a problem 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 00:07:09.520 --> 00:07:19.199 massaging from the reciprocating saw to make it fit on a motherboard, 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:22.800 it was finally ready to mount. 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:25.039 The processor chosen was an Intel Q6600, 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:30.560 mainly because the old ASUS motherboard it was on was the only one where the 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:33.120 heat sink didn't interfere with the VRM. 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 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:43.520 more than generous dollop of thermal paste. Topping off the creation with a 00:07:40.400 --> 00:07:48.000 handful of zip ties. 00:07:43.520 --> 00:07:52.560 And this was actually the first time I 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:56.280 laid eyes on what three of my staff had 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:56.280 been doing all week. 00:07:56.800 --> 00:08:01.599 I don't know how anything could have been worse than what I was expecting, 00:08:00.080 --> 00:08:05.720 but this may have achieved it. 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:14.160 I mean, the name of the series is 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:17.199 sketchy heat sinks, and um 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:20.400 I guess mission accomplished there. With 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:22.800 all of that said, testing an IDA 64 00:08:20.400 --> 00:08:28.080 turned out better than expected. And sketchy heat sink number two was able to 00:08:25.599 --> 00:08:32.560 keep the CPU reasonably cool for a fairly long time. Although this is 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:42.320 likely more to do with its large thermal mass than its ability to dissipate heat. 00:08:36.880 --> 00:08:44.959 Ambitious but rubbish. 10 out of 10 IGN. 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, 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:55.680 we had high goals set and we believed with the resources we had, we could pull 00:08:53.040 --> 00:09:00.240 it off. But it took three times longer than originally planned and the end 00:08:57.360 --> 00:09:05.279 result performs poorly, looks bad, and has almost none of the features that we 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:07.360 said it would have in the beginning. 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:11.040 So then, all that's left to say is thanks in advance to the metalworking 00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:16.000 experts who by now have filled the comments with advice. We will bear it in 00:09:13.360 --> 00:09:21.760 mind for the next installment then of sketchy heat sinks. 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:24.640 Freshbooks is the small business 00:09:21.760 --> 00:09:30.000 accounting software. It's built from the ground up for how you work as a 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:34.959 freelancer or a small business owner. And it's the simple way to be more 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:40.560 productive and organized. Not to mention to get paid more quickly and on your own 00:09:38.160 --> 00:09:45.200 terms. You can take deposits. You can get paid faster. You can create and send 00:09:42.880 --> 00:09:51.200 professionallook invoices in less than 30 seconds. You can track your expenses. 00:09:48.160 --> 00:09:53.440 You can even see when your client has 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 00:09:55.360 --> 00:10:03.279 it. Blah blah blah nonsense. And you can even take your payment directly through 00:10:01.040 --> 00:10:07.680 FreshBooks. If all that sounds awesome and you want to stop dinking around with 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:12.240 complicated accounting software, then try FreshBooks for 30 days for nothing 00:10:10.160 --> 00:10:17.839 at freshbooks.com/te tips and enter tech tips in the how did 00:10:14.880 --> 00:10:21.360 you hear about us section. So, thanks for watching guys. If you 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:24.720 dislike this video, hit the dislike button. But come on, where's your sense 00:10:22.800 --> 00:10:27.360 of fun? But if you liked it, hit the like button, get subscribed, maybe 00:10:26.160 --> 00:10:36.240 consider checking out where to buy the stuff we featured. I mean, what would that even be? like scrap aluminum at the 00:10:32.880 --> 00:10:36.240 link in the video description.