Liquid3D has written a very informative guide on how to remove the IHS (Integrated Heat Spreader) from a Pentium 4 processor I used a simple thread of high tinsel nylon, found the place on the chip where the epoxy seal was les then perfect (luckily it was on a corner), and began sawing away. I definitely recommend placing the CPU in a socket, and locking it down. Truth be known there were a few moments when I became impatient and actually lifted the CPU out from a locked socket. Not advisable. Read the howto: here