Scratch Build – Complete ⭐ The Iron Turnip--6-2019-complete. final pictures on page 29

Thanks!


-Ooh, blurry. This is the smoldering remains of a soldering jig I glued together. I had just hosed it and the yard down here.

-I'm amazed the paper-thin brass soldered together so well.

-It cleaned up well too. Dang! but that chrome is tough stuff.

-Next I chopped the head off so it could be mounted to the tank....somehow.

-I got my copper brick. I have to say, it's the prettiest chunk of metal I've ever got from McMaster. It should take several hours to hack saw the bit I need for the block free. I'm not looking forward to that.
You can see the charred, corroded remains of the old GPU block bits above.

-I made a (possibly temporary) tube for the pump. So I could work out placement for the GPU. These last two pics have the washers I made to cover the ugly radiator guard mounts. I can see assembly is going to be a real puzzle already. The radiator will be the last part to add, but getting to the screws?
One of them is behind the reservoir, one is next to the pipe in this pic. Ouch!

So, Mobo/gpu assembly goes in the frame first. The pump and back of reservoir are next. Then the radiator is added, and finally, the res can be added to the back res cap. It sounds simple, but there will be wires and lube everywhere, like some kind of Japanese porno.

Thanks again to my sponsors:

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And I hope they don't read my logs.

 

Heh, thanks for the new quote!

 

Quoted again?

 

To assembly the piping you might need to solder together in place.

Assembly is one of the most overlooked aspects of case modding. How many great ideas have fallen apart because one couldn't assemble the final case? I know I have at least one such case.

 

Advice incoming - sorry I didn't spot this sooner, but I don't spend a lot of time in "project logs" these days. You should have just fired off a PM... then again, the chances of my noticing that...

Heat-proof sheet, not always great to solder onto directly - you need to raise the copper up off it to reduce conductive heat loss. If I'm doing something big (not even as big as you have there) I'll usually put some knackered 3/32 burr/bit's under the piece. One on each corner won't be enough for what you've got there, it'll sag in the middle, at a guess, nine or sixteen little props.

Heat-proof sheet blocks, build yourself a mini-kiln - sheet = bad idea, not stable enough. For one-time/low-yield you can use normal bricks or concrete blocks build yourself two sides, a back and a top, this reflects a lot of heat back at your block and traps what would otherwise be waste heat in the blocks which then radiate inwards. Specially designed soldering blocks work best, but even bricks'll be loads better than nothing.

Three words - extra easy solder? There's five standard working silver solders, extra easy has the lowest melting point. Make damn sure it's not got cadmium in it though, that stuff will seriously ruin your day life!

The surface area you're aiming to solder is fairly large- to ensure full coverage I'd go one of two ways. Either tin pre-silver solder the back of your trimmed heatsink, just flux it up and either layout pallions or feed it wire until it's completely covered, then file it down to a suitable thickness of about 0.5mm. Or, file some solder down and collect the filings, sprinkle these liberally in your recess prior to placing the trimmed heatsink.

Friends - got any plumber/roofer/painter friends? All three tend to have fairly manly propane torches. Roofers especially.

Double torching - does equal double thermal input, just try not to have both flames pointing at the same spot at once.

Heating method - both objects you want to solder have to be at the minimum flow temperature for any given solder. In your case, that means a lot of heating the big mass with smooth figure of eight movements, you'll find that the trimmed heatsink will look after its self, but if it's not up to temperature at the same time as the block, it'll absorb a quick blitz of heat much better than the other way around.

Choice of torch & fuel - a big soft flame is what you want for the sort of work you've got here, soft as in non-oxidsing, propane is a good choice for that, but its calorific value isn't way up there; I get more raw heat out of a 1.2m orifice oxy-propane torch than I did out of my old 10m propane only torch. Other options beside oxygen include MAPP, but there's not a massive amount in it, about an extra 3-5% if I recall correctly and butane is actually slightly lower thermal out-put wise....

Other stuff - yea, I'm knackered, I'm sure I've forgotten something!

 

I did the brick kiln thing and gave it an eternity to build heat. I also asked around about about oxy/acetylene access. My torch is a wimp, and the silver is not easy melt, (.999% pure.)

-Anyway, I've moved on. I just hope my current slitting saw can handle copper now.

@Dr.Coin - I can assemble, It's just going to be an event.

 

Fine silver - you're doing soldering wrong, melting point just below 1K deg C - extra easy solder, melting point circa 650 deg C.

In fact... [scratches head, goes off to check wikipedia 'cause I'm too lazy to get up and walk across the room to a book] ...there's only 125 deg C between silver's melting point and copper's melting point. If you don't mind my saying so, that's a thin line for a novice to walk be very careful not to slump your trimmed heatsink.

Definitely use a solder. Even extra easy is usually about 50-60% Ag, more than good enough for thermal transmittance especially when it'll be such a thin layer.

 

I didn't bother with research. I honestly didn't think about the silver NOT being solder until you mentioned 'easy melt'.
Trusting my memory again? I forgot I forget stuff.

OK, I'll give it another try, with the right stuff this time.

(Crap. I re-drew the model...)

 

lol
but why not? its looking great!

 

Thanks.
Mainly 'cause of Barry's quote.

 

I was going to say, "Back in the saddle," but then I remembered post 1's event...

I have finally passed that major hurdle that has halted progress. -No, I wasn't constipated. Read below:

-I bought this $60 chunk of copper, but someone on Bit-tech, (I'm looking at you, Asura,) convinced me to have another try at the soldering. So... technically, this bit doesn't count for my salvage build. You can see the corroded remains of solder attempt #6 in the corner.

-Ah, nature how it should be enjoyed: With protective eyewear and a gas mask. This is attempt #8. For #7 I had switched to a bigger nozzle and a new tank of gas, but I couldn't keep it lit for more than a few seconds.

-I got that sucker really hot this time. The enclosure uses Hardyplank with a hole underneath, some broken tile, and a brick swastika pattern to adjust to the size of the copper victim. I invested in some long heat time flux and extra-easy solder for this run.

-It worked, but at what cost?:/ I've never seen copper turn orange or purple before. I had one heck of a time removing this too. The clean circle is from a drop of the flux. The perimeter was etched pretty badly.

-As expected, she warped like crazy. A quick pass on the lapping plate shows it bowed upwards in the middle. You can also see I've drilled out the holes now.

-Here's the top after some serious cleaning. You can still see some nasty etching. Don't look at the fins. Don't look at the fins. Don't look at the fins. Don't look at the fins. Don't look at the fins.

Anyway, I have something to work with finally. I'll be working on a temp top for testing now I guess, (and getting that base flat. -ow.)


Thanks again to my sponsors:

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Hopefully this mean more frequent updates now.

Too bad you couldn't keep the funky colours, not that anyone will see them in the case… for that matter, most of your amazing working will go unseen… I guess that is why case windows are so popular.

 

Cheaps you're my hero.

Maybe you overlooked it, why are those fines black?

 

Thanks!
@Dr. Coin - I'm making massive progress now that I can MOVE on. Funky colors will be covered in purple plexi soon.
@Noob - I said don't look! I haven't found anything nasty enough to put on a toothbrush and clean that off yet. It seems there was a lacquer coat on the heatsink originally. Now it has a layer of carbon from the torch to boot.

 

Drawing stuff. Yes, It hurts my eyes too.

 

Never seen caustic soda in the US. I'd love a US equivalent from what I've seen.
OK, 1/2 a second in gooble says draino. No wonder I didn't know. -Never used the stuff.

 

I'd say you cooked it 'well done'. I've seen purples from overheating but nothing that ever looked like that!

If the hydroxide doesn't work, maybe pick up a cheapy media blaster???
http://www.harborfreight.com/20-lb-pressurized-abrasive-blaster-68994-8799.html
Probably wouldn't run of a 'normal' compressor for long, but might be enough to get your fins done.

 

It was glowing red when I opened the enclosure.
I have a sand blaster, but I don't think I can get close enough to it and not bend the fins. They got annealed all to heck, after all.

 

True. I didn't think how soft that copper must be now. I hope that draino works. That would be about the only thing it's good for. If not maybe lemon juice or a real light acid might do the trick without etching the copper???

 

Wouldn't brasso on a teethbrush do the trick?