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

[Terry in Australia]

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.

[Steve F]

Hey Terry,
I had a set of spokes roll threaded by a local Chicago suburban shop and they charged me about $50US for the setup and run charge.  Are you sure you want to invest in a thread rolling machine?  How often do you plan on using it?  Just the dies alone are big bucks.

[Terry in Australia]

G'Day Steve, well I'm gonna use it at least three times, (I have to modify some spokes to lace Suzuki GS750 hubs to some new alloy rims I bought for my CB750 based "racer" project) and then if I let Jeff use it in his shop I can have some of his small mountain of unthreaded spokes, so it'll probably pay for itself in time? Cheers, Terry.

[Terry in Australia]

Bump. C'Mon guys?

[ElCheapo]

No stump Terry. Is there a reason that one could not make a decent jig and use a standard or split die and just cut the threads. It would not be too hard to do. Take your correct die, thread on the existing threads and run her down, making sure to back her up once in a while to get the burrs out. Holding the spoke? Just use a hub to hold the spoke still. Jam an axle size bolt in the old vise, slip the hub on an then lace the spoke in and start threading. Remove the die and thread on the end thread her down to the length you need and zip off the excess. Back up the end and the thread will clear.

There is a reason they call me ElCheapo  It's not because I skip meds 

[Terry in Australia]

G'Day Tom, I had a similar thought, but Jeff told me that the threads are rolled, rather than cut, so that there is no metal removed from the spoke, so as to keep it strong. Otherwise I'd be over at the tool shop looking at "spoke thread dies" rather than wimpering all over my keyboard, boo hoo!

[Uncle Ernie]

I have a feeling that cut threads in that situation would break pretty easily.  Could you adapt a pasta machine?

[Terry in Australia]

I have a feeling that cut threads in that situation would break pretty easily.  Could you adapt a pasta machine?

Have you got a pasta machine ernie? if so, send it to me, and if I can't use it for making new spokes, at least I can help out my second favorite past-time, eating, ha ha! cheers, Terry.

[ElCheapo]

G'Day Tom, I had a similar thought, but Jeff told me that the threads are rolled, rather than cut, so that there is no metal removed from the spoke, so as to keep it strong. Otherwise I'd be over at the tool shop looking at "spoke thread dies" rather than wimpering all over my keyboard, boo hoo!

Ahhh. I follow now.

Well this year I got a new sandblaster, plasma cutter, bike lift, trailer, winch, and the list goes on, I will have to add one of those machines to the list 

[amattel]

I was bouncing around on the net and found this tool called the HOZAN spoke threader.

It rolls the spoke and while it was originally made with heads for bicycle spokes, here is a thread where they are discussing fitting it with 11 guage heads which some honda motorbikes use.
http://thewheelmen.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=922

Perhaps you can get a hold of the correct size roller head for your bike project.

By the way, what is the guage size of the spokes on a cb750?

the tool runs around $130 or so...
http://totalbike.com/items/hozan_spoke_threader_c_700_with_head_t59c.htm

Anyway.. this is the only option I was able to find other than the $3150 tool you already mentioned.

Good luck,

Adam

[cbjunkie]

fascinating.

[Terry in Australia]

I was bouncing around on the net and found this tool called the HOZAN spoke threader.

It rolls the spoke and while it was originally made with heads for bicycle spokes, here is a thread where they are discussing fitting it with 11 guage heads which some honda motorbikes use.
http://thewheelmen.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=922

Perhaps you can get a hold of the correct size roller head for your bike project.

By the way, what is the guage size of the spokes on a cb750?

the tool runs around $130 or so...
http://totalbike.com/items/hozan_spoke_threader_c_700_with_head_t59c.htm

Anyway.. this is the only option I was able to find other than the $3150 tool you already mentioned.

Good luck,

Adam

Thanks Adam, there's one on Ebay that i've been watching since yesterday, it looks pretty good, and comes with the 11 gauge head. If I'm right, the smaller the number, the thicker the spoke, and "11 gauge" means that if you sit 11 of those spokes side-by-side, the'd measure 1 inch, same as if you sit 15 x 15 gauge spokes together, or 8 8 gauge spokes, etc? I'll go out and sit some spokes together and get back to you.......... Cheers, Terry. 

[Terry in Australia]

BUMP! Okay, so I measured a front spoke for my cb750 front wheel, they're 3mm dia, so that's close enough to 8 gauge? All the spoke threading machine's I've seen so far are only 13-15 gauge, so no luck so far, anyone out there got any input? Damn you guys are "skinny" on technical knowledge! Ha ha, Cheers, Terry.

[cbjunkie]

terry you should PM HondaMan if you want the answer. i'll bet you 10 bucks he twists spokes up in his bare hands.

 

[cbjunkie]

that machine on Ebay went for over 1600 dollars (U.S.)...

[Terry in Australia]

that machine on Ebay went for over 1600 dollars (U.S.)...

I didn't bother bidding on that one, but what pissed me off was that I was the leading bidder on this one, with a minute to go it was only 56 bucks, so with a max bid of 107.99 I reckoned that I was a winner, and some #$%* bicycle riding, pillow biting, dung punching, pole smoking, leotard wearing fag SNIPER outbid me by a couple of  bucks! Bastard!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1,1&item=7208879044&sspagename=STRK%3AMEDW%3AIT

I hope it falls outta the vice on to his bare foot and smashes all his tarsels! Oh, by the way, apparently 3mm spokes are 10 gauge, not 8 gauge as I previously posted, which doesn't make any sense, but it's a British unit of measure, so that's self explanatory, ha ha! Cheers, Terry. 

[Bob Wessner]

and some #$%* bicycle riding, pillow biting, dung punching, pole smoking, leotard wearing fag SNIPER outbid me by a couple of  bucks! Bastard!

Terry, don't hold back, tell us what you really think. 

I thought an earlier post said cutting rather than rolling resulted in weakened spokes?

[cbjunkie]

#$%* bicycle riding, pillow biting, dung punching, pole smoking, leotard wearing fag SNIPER

not that there's anything WRONG with any of that...

[Terry in Australia]

and some #$%* bicycle riding, pillow biting, dung punching, pole smoking, leotard wearing fag SNIPER outbid me by a couple of  bucks! Bastard!

Terry, don't hold back, tell us what you really think. 

I thought an earlier post said cutting rather than rolling resulted in weakened spokes?

That's right Bob, it was just the way he worded his auction, that machine "rolls" the thread onto spokes, not "cuts' them like a threading die. Cheers, Terry.

[Jonesy]

Oh, by the way, apparently 3mm spokes are 10 gauge, not 8 gauge as I previously posted, which doesn't make any sense, but it's a British unit of measure, so that's self explanatory, ha ha!

It was once explained to me that gauge numbers are figured as the number of said objects (in this case spokes) that can fit in a standard one-inch conduit. The lower the gauge number, the bigger the diameter. I can see where this would be useful to an electrician, but not to a guy lacing a wheel...

[Terry in Australia]

Well my new Harley 19 x 2.5" rim just arrived, so now I've got a bare CB750 front hub, a new rim, and 40 spokes that are about half an inch too long! Anyone know a hitman who works cheap? I'd like to "ice" that #$%* bicycle riding, pillow biting, dung punching, pole smoking, leotard wearing fag SNIPER, ha ha! Cheers, Terry.

[Terry in Australia]

geez they say us Brits moan 

Well Dave, "They" say it because it's true! Ha ha, cheers, Terry. (Raining outside now, but it'll be warm and sunny this afternoon)

[hahnda]

Is spoke guage measured the same as wire guage?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_wire_gauge

[oldyzracer]

I, too, am interested in threading spokes. Has anyone ever found a reasonably-priced spoke threading machine that one can purchase? I realize this is an ancient thread, but I lust after arcane knowledge from the elder days.

[madmtnmotors]

"Rolled" threads are actually extruded, or "pushed up" to form the top of the thread which results in a threaded portion that actually has a greater outside diameter than the original spoke shaft. I don't think cutting threads (i.e. with a thread cutting die) would work very well.

Oh yeah.. speaking of threads...

Zombie Thread! Zombie Thread! Zombie Thread!