W A R N I N G !


W A R N I N G !

This page is full of non-facts and bullsh!t, (just like the internet and especially forums and other blogs), please do not believe entirely without exercising your intellect. Any resemblance to real things in reality is purely coincidental. You are free to interpret/misinterpret the content however you like, most likely for entertainment, but in no case is the text written on this blog the absolute truth. The blog owner and Blogger are not responsible for any misunderstanding of ASCII characters as facts. *cough* As I was saying, you are free to interpret however you like. *cough*

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Random thought of the day: Flat finish =/= Mirror finish

When talking about this two terms together, one has to be talking about heatsinks. The base of the heatsink to be precise.

Most heatsink bases are predominantly flat, although some concave examples have been found lately.

And people like to sand their heatsinks till their base is mirror-like.

I would like to point out, that a mirror finish does not mean it's flat.

Why something looks like a mirror can be explained using primary or secondary school physics, so I won't go deep into that.

Basically, any smooth (enough) surface will have a mirror finish.

But that doesn't mean it's flat. A curved surface can still have a mirror finish. Like concave mirrors, most straightforward example.

Fortunately, pros sand their heatsinks with a big flat piece of glass, so it's usually flat.

That said, if next time you sand your heatsink without the glass (using hand only, or on an non-flat surface), and you find bad contact, don't be puzzled by the mirror finish.

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