http://norman.walsh.name/2007/09/23/deskmod 10 97 2007-09-23T14:16:44-04:00 $Date$ Norman Walsh 2007 Norman Walsh Hacking laptop heat with a desktop heat sink. One thing is incontrovertibly true about this new laptop: when it's working hard, it gets hot. Seriously hot! Burn your lap hot, definitely. Uncomfortable to type on hot, without question. Damage the finish on your desk hot, maybe. I tried a couple of different laptop stands. The inexpensive one from the local office superstore was cheap, wobbly junk. The expensive one from the net was a little small and, while it was pretty sturdy, it didn't do much to dissipate the heat. (I think lifting the laptop off the aluminium stand with four little rubber feet sort of defeated the benefits of aluminium construction.) Aluminium was definitely part of the answer, I could see that. It's an exceptional heat conductor. I'd been thinking about this for a few days when I found myself in the hardware store waiting for some keys to be cut. As I wandered about, I happened upon a rack of metal stock: rods, bars, angled corners, etc. There were a number of steel shapes and also a number of aluminium shapes. (What on earth is this stuff for?) Inspiration struck and I grabbed two four-foot lengths of ⅛ inch by 2 inch aluminium stock. I tested the effect by simply slapping the bars down on my desk and tucking them under my monitor stand. They worked great, so I made plans to make something a little nicer (and a little less dangerous, metal bars jutting two feet off your desk are just an accident waiting to happen). My initial inspiration was a complicated idea involving 90° bends and welds (welding being a skill I do not possess). My final design was simply to attach the bars to a box that would serve as a monitor stand. A 1 by 12 clear pine board and an afternoon with the circular saw and the router turned out my first prototype: The stand is just a simple wooden box with a little utility shelf. The aluminium bars fit into routered slots in the bottom of the stand where they're screwed in place. I spaced the bars so that they fit just inside the rubber feet on the bottom of the laptop. That gives direct contact with the metal for maximum heat conduction. With the monitor in place, it's just like my old work station, but a whole lot cooler. I think a crosspiece under the “back edge” of the laptop, near the LCD hinge, would make it even more effective; that seems to be where the heat really builds up. But for now, I think this will do the trick. And could win me the award for dorkiest desk, I know. But I'm cool, temperature wise at least.