manual: how to make a epoxy and CPU keychain!!

duthoy

Distinguished
Aug 23, 2006
319
0
18,780
I've read about some people who are trying to make a keychain from a CPU,
to protect it from scratches and dirt, you could embed it in epoxy,
this is a life report from my first attempt!

as i make my progress throught the job, i'll keep you all up to date with pictures

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

step 1: materials and preparation:

01_prep.jpg


Nr 1 : THE CPU: This is a Atlon XP 2600+ this is the part we going to embed in epoxy

Nr 2: a cut plastic bottle, used to make the epoxy (2 components)
i've put a sticker on to make my measurements.
part

Nr 3: A bottle of the best belgium beer, to get the courage!

nr 4: the 2 components for the epoxy

nr 5: plastic form, speaks for itself!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
step 2: making and pouring the epoxy

first we make the epoxy
when we open the big component of epoxy, there a very annoying smell
i've poured the gel from the big component in the bottle, until just below the sticker. (100 ml)
i need to put 35 drops of the small component into this (=+/- 1 ml)

second the epoxy and the CPU in the form.
i've poured a little bit epoxy in the form (like 2 mm.)
then i've placed the CPU in it (the core down, as you can see on the picture)
placed the CPU exact in place, and continued with the pouring, until the pins are about 1 mm. below the epoxy.
i've used a toothpick too distribute the gel evenly.

after this i had still a lot off epoxy in the bottle, so i've started searching for some other forms and objects.

now i've got used a Athlon XP 2600+, a celeron 800 and celeron 700 and the cap of the bottle of beer (dam'n i love that beer)

i've closed off the green form because the manual of the epoxy stated that it would harden faster. so i've got 3 open and one closed form of epoxy.

02.jpg


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
step 3: waiting and have a glass of beer

now i have to wait until it dries out, probably 3 days
so i keep you informed the following days!!

after one hour it starts to harden, i've checked after 2 hours, everything is still looking good!!, doesn't smell that much any more, but my hallway smells like hell :?
after 12 hours: after one night of drying time, it hardening, it looks like the epoxy is sticking to the edges, so removing can become difficult.
the edges are a little bit upwards because the epoxy is shrinking, but the edges are stuck to the form, but that's nothing a dremel can't fix once completely hardened.
after 36 hours: the one in the green form, seems to harden ok,
the others are still gel, so, we need to wait a little longer.
i think i'm going to a regular drill to make the hole, there is almost none air accumulating.

after 38 hours: the green one seemed hard enough to try removing it:
so i grabbed to my hardware and started destroying the form! these are the results;

IM000516.JPG


IM000517.JPG


IM000518.JPG


IM000519.JPG


IM000520.JPG


Now Thats a "boxed CPU" :lol:

after 4 days of drying time, to 2 CPU-s that weren't covered the first hour, are still in a gelly state, but there are slowly hardening,
the one that was covered hardened very fast, after 2 days of drying time, i've took my drill and drilled a hole in it.
now i've got my first keychain.
i thinks it looks very bumpy because it was covered the first hour, or it was the last of the epoxy i've used, the other 2 are looking flat, but still hardening.

this is how my first one looks like!

IM000521.jpg

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
after 6 days, the epoxy on the other 3 keychains is hardening,
so, i think it still needs another week to become really hard.

my final thoughts:

1: do this in summertime: the epoxy really smells
2: cover the object, for fast drying, or leave them uncovered, but it takes a long time to dry
3: if you want to do it, just go for it, it ain't so difficult
4: i loved to do this, so if you have any other ideas just let me know!!!
 

apt403

Distinguished
Oct 14, 2006
2,923
0
20,780
looks nice, a little rough, but hey, its your first attemp and a belt sander could easily take care of that. How sturdy does it feel? like is it really hard like a peice of titanium, or more like really tough sandstone, very hard to break, but definatly not impossible.

It would be really cool to get every cpu a company like intel has made, from the first intel 4040, to the core 2 duo's of today, incase them all together in plastic, and make a huge plaque out of 'em!

I think ill try this too, but ill do it with that old cpu i depinned a couple of days ago. (now im regretting drilling a hole through it...) before i try using the 8088 from the ibm pc.
 

duthoy

Distinguished
Aug 23, 2006
319
0
18,780
yeah, my friends like it too,
i've already accepted some orders from them, for 2 CPU-s and a piece of RAM (cut in half)
so, if you're near belgium, give me a PM and i can fix that for you ;-)
 

duthoy

Distinguished
Aug 23, 2006
319
0
18,780
it's becoming really hard,
currently i use it as a keychain for 4 days, and there ain't a scratch on it, and i keep my keys like, everywhere.
don't want to try and break it, would be very difficult (but nothing is impossible)
using a sand belt isn't a good idea, i think, it would become scratched and matte. it's wierd, because this is rough, and the other that are still drying are perfectly flat? maybe because they weren't covered with a lid the first hour.
 

tool_462

Distinguished
Jun 19, 2006
3,020
2
20,780
I once made a bench out of old skis (with help of my woodworking Grandpa.) I'm thinking someone should collect and make a "tile" floor out of CPUs!
 

ajfink

Distinguished
Dec 3, 2006
1,150
0
19,280
If I were some filthy millionaire, I probably WOULD put a QX6700 in epoxy, hehe.

As it is, I might do this. Good project, man. I might also make one out of an old stick of notebook SDRAM.
 

apt403

Distinguished
Oct 14, 2006
2,923
0
20,780
what about encaseing an entire, working computer, cooling would be a problem, since it wouls have to be entirly passively cooled, but if you submerged the entire thing in liquid nitrogen it would look really cool, and the temps would be awesome!