Who uses them? Who does not?
I do since I don’t have great heat control yet and I can purge if needed.
Wondering what others are doing.
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I would use them if I had them. That would definitely help my amateur welding skills. I haven’t justified the cost, yet.
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I use Sputnik heat sinks but mostly for purge rather than soaking up heat. It’s unlikely to burn a hole in a headtube, BB, or ST collar without them. I feel like I have to dump more heat in to get the puddle going with a heatsink anyway, and then it just holds the heat in that area for longer, but that’s probably since I’m not a great welder. If I were to do it again I’d make aluminum caps for the BB and HT with purge fittings and use a ST plug to save $$
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I use a proper paragon heat sink for the bb, and made my own alum heat sinks for other joins. Dunno if im making it up, but for me they are a huge help. Gives me really fine control of heat and puddle wash.
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I have PMW BB heat sinks and Sputnik ST and HT and use them.
I think it helps me control the heat but the joint stays hot for a long time with them in I sometimes take them out to allow the joint to cool.
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Just picked this up at Harbor Freight for $12. Looks like a heatsink, eh? Anybody ever seen or used these as a heatsink before? Fits perfectly into a 44mm HT. Obviously will need to change out the rubber O-rings. Thinking about getting some “garter” springs from McMaster Carr for O-ring substitute. It will need some bolt and end cap modification for back purge, but for $12 it’s worth a shot. Any thoughts?
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That’s really cool. I will need to pick one of those up also
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I’ve used a set of these before, they work ok but not really worth the hassle imo. If they get too hot they sweat oil and contaminate everything. That being said you could potentially bake it out first
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Good to know it may be worth a shot. If anything they could maybe be used to limit distortion. I’ll give them a good cleaning and try out on practice joints first, when I get to that point.
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I’ve been using those as an effort to limit distortion. Not sure how much difference they actually make, but my BB, ST and HT have stayed pretty round using them (I’m a bad welder that definitely puts too much heat into the tube.)
The key is replacing the rubber rings. I’ve used spring steel, but it can melt out pretty easily. You can also just remove the rings and keep the thing assembled in your hand as you insert it in the tube. Once it’s in the tube, the rings aren’t needed.
Remove the circlip at the end of the bolt so if it gets stuck in a tube you can disassemble the whole thing to get it out.
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Thanks! My welding experience is extremely minimal so I’m going to need all the help I can get with heatsinks and back purge. I invested in a Paragon heatsink for BB since that is probably the most critical place to use one. I’d like to try and save on any heatsinks I use at the HT and ST and if a cheaper option (with some modification) is available I’m all for it.
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I have heatsinks from Sputnik for ST and 44mm HT. I have Paragon for the BB. I would like another for the HT so I dont have to move them and maybe one a little longer the the Sputnik since I you use a large DT it may not reach the top of the weld.
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I’ve used Sputnik sinks for the ST and HT for most my frames and a Paragon for the BB shell.
They’re not needed, as Walt can attest, but if you backpurge or plan to get into Ti they’re great to invest in. The seat tube especially since that’s such a high heat area and reaming can be very difficult sometimes!
One thing to note, even with a heat sink the tube can ovalize. The acute angles of the head tube will still pull away, especially when the tube is closer to the face of the head tube. You’ll have to make sure you face the HT faces parallel or else the headset won’t seat flush. This happens to a much greater extent in Ti since it moves much more than steel.
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Thanks for the insight Whit.
I have invested in BB thread cutters and facers, and HT reamers and facers. Outside of the frame jig I’m building those have been my biggest expense. I have the type I and J adjustable reamers for the ST. Hoping to get a big tap handle in an auction to work with those.
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I place my ST reamer in a vice and use the frame as a handle 
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Just weld a thick piece of scrap tubing onto the top. If space constrained use a tube stub and an old handlebar.
-Walt
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Drop bar or flat?? 
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Mustache, duh!
-Walt
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