With the base of the ACPsink completed our sights now moved towards the copper components - the 50mm long pipe sections. With a few 5 foot sections of this thin pipe on hand we used a small pipe cutter to get the lengths we required. The height of the pipes was based on the overall height that the entire ACPsink would take when mounted onto an Athlon, and with fans. If the pipe sections were too long we would have had difficulties with the heatsink blocking DIMM slots. At 50mm lengths we figured we would be well enough below the 60mm limit most motherboards seem to have adopted.

The pipe cutter we used was small enough to work well on the thin walled copper pipe we were using. By marking the lengths and slow turning the knob as the entire cutter was rotated around the pipe, a sharp carbide wheel cut the pipe cleanly in a matter of seconds. The process introduced a small bevel on the very edge of the pipe that made insertion into the aluminum plate all that more easier.

Roughing Edges

With all 60-sections of the copper pipe cut to the correct length we set about inserting a few lengths into the aluminum plate. Quickly, we saw that the smooth pipe sections had poor staying power in the smooth holes. But with a bit of sandpaper, some scratches on the outside of the copper pipes made for a much more secure fit in the aluminum.