lap heatsink now or later?

[hat]

I just got an AX-7 HS and i definatly need to lap it. I am installing a new mobo, hsf, etc, for a reason i can not say, i cant install it yet, so my question is can i lap the hs now, or should i wait until i can install it? Will there be any negative effects of leaving this smooth heatsink out? Should i avoid things (even like the plastic bag it came in) from touching the lapped surface? This may seem like a am sweating over something small, but i am curious. Thanks.

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AMD Athlon 1600 XP @1498
ECS K7S5A
512 MB Crucial DDR Ultra/2/6/3
30 GB 7200 RPM Western Digital HDD
Aopen 56x CDROM
Gainward Geforce 2 Ti@283/536
Voyetra Turtle Beach Santa Cruz
Windows XP Pro

[wetling]

I'd wait, but that's just me.

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[MuFu]

I'd wait too. No harm in waiting.

MuFu.

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XP1700@(11x152MHz)
KG7R
Krewtial 512MB
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