Hi, Can anyone recommend a good resource where I can read/watch up on forming my water cooling loop from copper pipes? I've a number of tight 90 Degree bends that I've currently got fittings for, and I'd like to replace the lot with single pieces of copper. What tool do I need to bend the pipe and how tightly can the pipe be bent without it crushing? How do I attach the pipe to the rad etc? How can the pipe then be "dressed"? There's some lovely pieces that I'm keen to incorporate from http://www.million-dollar-pc.com/systems-2011/murderbox-mk2/murderbox-mk2.htm but I can't find anything to get me started. My mate's a hairy arsed plumber, but I don't think he'll have the finesse to get this to my standards.... Can anyone give me a starter for 10. (off to scour youtube)
I think everything you'll need to know can be found from studying this jizz-enducing project: http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=204450 You'll want a plumber's pipe-bender for bending the copper pipes without crushing them, although there are other tools you can use such as pipe-forming springs / coils. The pipe can be polished & then clear coated ( to stay shiny copper coloured ), or it can be nickel plated, or painted even- personal choice. Info about the fittings will be in that thread, and you can probably find bending radius info when it comes to looking at the tools; I doubt you'll get super-tight bends though with larger pipe, worth looking up some plumbing sites/forums/pictures etc to get an idea of how intricate ( or not ) you can expect to get with the bends...
Bending... not sure; just make sure the copper is well annealed before you start (heat it to cherry heat and let it cool or quench) or if you're making tight bends it could tear. To attach the piping, these or something like them would be my thought, a strong connection specifically designed for the purpose. With regards the finish, the possibilities are endless... polished and lacquered would be my favourite - start with emery papers to take out any scratches, working up from course to finest (2000 grit would be best, 1000 is fine) polish in two stages first tripoli on a firm polishing mop, then wipe down thoroughly before polishing with rouge on a fine mop (you can then go on to use a superior quality rouge after that, on a separate fine mop, but you're getting a bit obsessive by this stage) Finally a light coat of lacquer to prevent the copper from oxidising. For matted finishes, it's always best to take the metal up to a bit of a polish first - 1000 grit should be ample - to remove any scratches, also probably best using a matting wheel rather than trying to do it by hand. Unless you want very monodirectional matting, as on Lian Li cases. For plating you want a good finish, but not obsessively shiny - I'd recommend outsourcing any plating and the plater should advise you on the level of polish they need for a good finish. Painting, destroys the point of hard piping a bit, but it's a pretty standard method of keying, undercoating, keying, top coating, and polishing - more than one coat may be required for each stage. Patina's. I quite like patina's, they can be artificially induced and give the metal a different colour, with a matte metallic finish. Red, black and green are defiantly possible with copper, other colours most likely - silver can be made to go a lovely shade of blue.
That is exactly what I was after. I didn't even think about using SLI adapters to put the pipe into. Now, all I need to do is get y plumber mate to misappropriate some copper piping.... or buy some. Thanks for the comments guys. Appreciate it. Will have a play and post up my results as I progress.
