How worried should I be about copper dust?

When lapping your heatsink, modding cooling components, etc...
Do you usually do it in a different room and keep it away from you components at all costs?

Is there a good way or some protocol to clean heatsinks, making sure there is no conductive copper dust left?

 

Trust me, you really don't want stray conductive bits all over your electronics. I don't think you have to go to a different room for this, just don't let the bits fall into your computer.

As for cleaning the dust off a heatsink, I would just wipe it off with a damp paper towel.

 

Yea, there aren't many bits at all, just copper in pure dust form.

What about like, my hands? it really spreads around and gets into your skin and stuff. Thats why I would be worried enough to go into a different room.
Its very fine dust, how bad could it be if I got literally one grain of copper dust on my motherboard? Considering I'm going to put the heatsink back in it seems inevitable.

 

If your using sand paper to lap your heatsink, using water helps a ton with gathering that copper dust.

 

or a good fine grit sand paper or autobody sanding cloth and a little vegtable oil.

 

microfiber and magnets are good ideas as well. (not sure if copper is magnetic, if you ever work with other metals keep it in mind)

 

copper is non ferrous, magnets have no effect.

 

You should be wetsanding it in the bathroom or kitchen. And even if you were doing it dry, why would you not even wash your hands and/or the heatsink afterwords? Sanding it dry is going to take more time, not be as smooth, and clog and wear out the sandpaper faster. Make sure you have wet/dry sandpaper, although I'm not sure if you can even buy sandpaper at grits suitable for lapping that isn't able to get wet.