[Sweden] Tim Malmborg

TT Amanda · March 27, 2023

Timpelay · April 19, 2023

About time to get started!

I've been considering a couple of different options for this project before deciding which one to go with.

When doing this I came to the conclusion of some things I want to achive:

Re-use material or use recycled material. (Reusing aluminium side panels from previous casemods)
2 different surface finishes for the sticks using the same design for all of them. (Smooth bare metal with black edges on one side and blackout on the other)
Maintain or improve cooling capacity with the new design.
Work with non PC-controlled tools. (Manual metal cutter, jiggsaw, files, sanding/polishing)
Focus 100% on the RAM itself

Have you ever seen a see-through RAM heat spreader?

Timpelay · May 5, 2023

As I want to reuse material I decided to build with these aluminium side panels from another casemod.

I tend to save alot of material that could be usefull in the future, and guess what, this is the perfect opportunity.

The panels are something like 1,2 mm thick and got this honeycomb pattern that is what I use in many different variations for my brand.

I will create new unique see-through heat spreaders for the ram and still be able to keep the center-piece and light diffuser at the top.

The competition criteria to stay close to the original design, and yet be unique is important for me.

Metal cutter, jiggsaw and files are base tools that I will use to get the heat spreaders into the right shape.

The side sanded smooth.

There will be a total of 8 heat spreaders when finished. But I'll start with 4 and then try what finish I think is the best.

Right now it's tempting to high gloss polish the sides and paint the inside edge of the honeycombs in accent colors.

Allthough the combination polished/black is really nice looking. I will probably have to try on some scrap metal to decide.

Timpelay · May 12, 2023

For the second set of 4 heat spreaders I decided to sand and polish the entire sheet before getting into any cutting.

I realised that this was much more efficient as I could apply more force with my machine and still get an even surface.

After som testing I've desided to go with final grit 600 and hand polish with abrasive cloth instead of mirror polish. This because it will catch the light much better!

80 - 120 - 240 - 400 - 600 grit passes make sure I get what I want

With the sheet somewhat in the right finish it's time to start cutting.

Did the outlines with my large bench cutter and the middle sections with an angle grinder.

Final rough shaping and corner cutting and this is the result:

After that I paired them together and use hand files to trim one pair at the time to the right pattern.

At last the edges will be sanded and painted.

I tried some accent color on some scrab metal I got from cutting and it did not meet my expectation.

The black inside and outside edge is much more clean and goes way better with the smooth metal finish.

Timpelay · May 13, 2023

To remove any scrathes and get the final finish I used tape to hold the spreaders flat in pairs when sanding.

The 4 bare metal sides are finished and ready for mounting to the actual ram sticks!

Worked my way through my stock of thermal pads to find a version that's 1mm thick and really sticky. Lets see if they can hold or I'll order some thermal tape.