Topic: Anyone got a spoke threading machine, or know where I can steal, er, buy one?

[Stev-o]

Did you find a rolling machine?  I love these old threads that come back to life!

[Terry in Australia]

G'Day Steve, no mate, my Harley rim is still sitting in a corner of my garage with 6 years of dust over it, but I still want a spoke threading machine, if anyone can point me to one? Cheers, Terry.

[faux fiddy]

Dood, terry the bicycle shop had one, but the uhh.. maybe idiots that bought fred's shop might have thrown it out.  Things are just different now.

But I remember  sticking a spoke in a hole, at a certain length, and the turn of a crank you have a spoke of the right length. Most amazing. It came out threaded and ready to use with a hand crank.


My mystery is how it cut it both sides and radially in a spiraly is mind boggling, but when it was time to build a wheel, a bit of measurement and a 360' turn of a handle and the spoke is thereaded to length if you measured right.


WTF you do need one, if so no other reason is you can help. Seriously, with the tool I saw, turn a crank 180-maybe 360? out comes a spoke.

[754]

 Should take about 10 turns with a Hozan.. I have one but have not used it.. the dies for shortening Honda spokes are buggered..

[Don R]

I saw a car spoke machine on TV. It was the guy in England that rehabbs old cars to re sell. He did a jag and had some new spokes made for the wire wheels. It was so fast I didn't believe it. Thare were two grooved wheels that closed on the spoke, it got threaded and shot right back out just that quick.

[faux fiddy]

I saw a car spoke machine on TV. It was the guy in England that rehabbs old cars to re sell. He did a jag and had some new spokes made for the wire wheels. It was so fast I didn't believe it. Thare were two grooved wheels that closed on the spoke, it got threaded and shot right back out just that quick.

+1 that's what I'm talking about.

I think this is the one I saw for bicycles.  There's another one on you tube called a KOWA.

Phil Wood Spoke Cutter in action

[70CB750]

The principal is simple, hmmmm it was part of my education - thats how i know. Rolled threads are generally stronger than cut - makes sense especially on spokes.

I would - if I had your obsession - try to buy those threading wheels and build the rest myself. The wheels must be heat treated and they would be too hard to make at home.

[754]

 That machine uses flat dies, and rolls the spoke between them. The style that is more common, fits in a vise and rolls the thread radially with 3 dies 120 degrees apart, you turn the handle and ot rotates on, much like a die goes on...following the pitch.

 The one in the video is more for production, the Hozan type is more portable and for occasional use.

[BLUE71TURBO]

 Terry,  I have a best friend that is a retired machinist from Santa Fe railroad .  He has a machine shop in his garage and can make almost anything.  His knowledge is amazing.  I'll ask him about being able to " roll threads "  on small diameter spokes.  I'll let ya know tonight.   

  Update;  He doesn't have the die's  required to make the rolled threads.   

[BLUE71TURBO]

 I found this website Terry.    http://www.dotbike.com/p/9480    It has the machine and the different dies for various sized spokes.  Hope this helps.   

[Terry in Australia]

Hey thanks everyone, I love the machine in the vid, but I can only afford the one in Jon's link, which is fine, if it'll do 8 gauge motorcycle spokes that's all I need! I'll order one soon and let you know how it works out. Cheers, Terry.

[dirty rat]

rolled threads on hardend bolts are formed when hot not cold and are called hot forged threads

[Badluckhonda]

Any luck with this terry?

[Stev-o]

I think after 9 years, he is still looking!

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, to be honest, I've forgotten all about it!

[Badluckhonda]

Well damn ! Haha so why guage are the front oe spokes ? I'm go an see if buchanans can do it

[BobbyR]

Well I learned something today, that spoke threads are "rolled" and not "cut", and to further my edification, my mate Jeff at Ace Motorcycles here in Melbourne demonstrated as best he was able on his little spoke threading machine, that is sadly, quite f*cked. Nevertheless I was not deterred in my quest to shorten a set of new CB750 spokes so that I can lace up a new Harley (ooh no, spit spit, pffftt! ) 19 inch drop centre rim to a CB750 front hub.

I did an Ebay search (surprisingly not much unless you're looking at bicycle spoke threading machines) and did a google search, but the only one i could see was $3150.00 which is about 3000 more than I want to pay? Then I thought about the wealth of knowledge (actually experienced or at least well read and plagiarised) lying herein, so I thought I'd throw it over to you guys, does anyone here either: 1. Have a spoke machine they'd sell me cheap, or: 2. Point me in the right direction as to where I can buy one?

I would have thought that with the amount of spoked wheels on this planet, there'd be a lot more options than to take my spokes to a wheel builder and have him make me a set, I'd rather pay the same sort of money, and keep the machine? Any help, either real, or imagined, will as always, be well received! Cheers, Terry.

Terry,

Listen mate, all mass produced fasteners are roll threaded. I have visited bolt makers. The stock is rolled over a threaded plate. It s very fast and cheap. Nuts on the other hand are cut.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Bobby, but geez, you could have told me 9 years ago when I didn't know that!

[Bailgang]

Bobby is correct about the external threads being rolled rather than cut. Years ago I worked for McGill's bearings and our plant made needle bearing type cam followers. The threaded end of the cam followers weren't made in the same fashion as Bobby's vid but the principle was the same, in our case there would be 3 rotating dies that would clamp around the end being threaded and then roll (not cut) around it. From what I understand rolling the threads makes for a stronger thread because it's less evasive to the metal compared a die that would cut the threads.

[Terry in Australia]

From what I understand rolling the threads makes for a stronger thread because it's less evasive invasive to the metal compared a die that would cut the threads.

Fixed that for you Scott.

[Bailgang]

Yeah I know my grammar sucks, thank goodness for spell check or I'd be screwed.

[BobbyR]

Thanks Bobby, but geez, you could have told me 9 years ago when I didn't know that!

Sorry Mate,
I did not realize this thread was dragged out of the swamp. It was good to see you back on and hear from you.

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, no worries Bobby, it's been a turbulent year and I lost interest in a lot of things after my dad passed away in January, but I'm slowly getting my head back together again. Cheers, Terry.

[BobbyR]

Ha ha, no worries Bobby, it's been a turbulent year and I lost interest in a lot of things after my dad passed away in January, but I'm slowly getting my head back together again. Cheers, Terry.

Condolences on the loss of your Dad. I just put my parents in an assisting living place. They are 97 and 93 with no current medical conditions, but they are way past being able to care for themselves. Dad worked on the A bomb during WWII for which he is very proud.

Glad you are getting back in the game Mate, we can still have some miles under our pegs to go. 

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Bobby, and your folks should be congratulated for surviving well into their 90's, Dad scraped through to 88 but he was out of it for his 88th birthday and died two days later.

When I visited Dad at one of the homes he was staying at last year (he got shuffled between 3 because he had dementia and was a difficult patient, sadly) I was talking to an old school teacher of mine who's 93 and perfectly lucid, he fought in the Pacific theatre in WW2 and had some really interesting stories to tell, but he'd had a fall recently and broke his hip, so his daughter decided he would be better off in a nursing home, and to be fair, she found a good one for him.

I'm thinking about going back to visit my old teacher soon, my mum wants to go too as she'd made some friends at that home, and while she doesn't want to stay there just yet, she'd like to catch up with her friends who are dropping off the perch at a fairly rapid pace nowadays. Cheers, Terry.