which nipple driver?

[Brucey]

the shock cord is a good idea, esp if you are always working in the same place when wheelbuilding.

The cordless drill I was looking at the other day was about half the size and a third the weight of most, so maybe it won't be such an unwieldy beast as I needs suspension.

I recently built a rim model for the first time and comparing notes with a local wheelbuilder (who BTW with the same tools as I would use is nearly twice as fast as I am... ) I made him laugh when I said that with that rim, the wheel wanted to be straight! Quality rims make a big difference.

cheers

[hubner]

It seems the bent spoke nipple driver has 2 disadvantages:

you need to screw the nipple onto the tool,
after you've put the nipple onto the spoke, you need to unscrew the tool and maybe hold the nipple at the same time.

So for deep section rims, ideally you'd want a tool that doesn't need screwing the nipple on and off but at the time holds the nipple so it doesn't fall off.

How about:
a nipple driver "bit", ie slotted screwdriver end with a prong, but placed inside a thin wall socket. The handle would be the spinning cranked type. The inside of the socket would be circular and there would be something to grip the nipple, perhaps a rubber or plastic lining, or something made from metal would be more durable.

Then all you would need to do is push the nipple into the tool and twist so it engages the driver "bit", then use the tool as you would use the usual cranked screwdriver type of nipple driver with a spinning handle.

[sojournermike]

Just to add to the discussion, I've built some wheels with deeper rims lately and used the DT Swiss Squorx nipples. A dab of grease ensures that the nipple sits on the dedicated driver and is easily fitted to the spoke. Slower than a nipple driver, but losing a nipple inside a deep rim tends to delay the process too.

[Brucey]

one of the potential issues with any tool that surrounds the nipple head is that some rims are drilled with a small hole that is oriented radially. Once you stick something large diameter through such a hole, you can't easily see what you are doing and indeed it may not be possible to angle the tool correctly wrt to the spoke unless it too is held at an angle.

cheers

[sojournermike]

one of the potential issues with any tool that surrounds the nipple head is that some rims are drilled with a small hole that is oriented radially. Once you stick something large diameter through such a hole, you can't easily see what you are doing and indeed it may not be possible to angle the tool correctly wrt to the spoke unless it too is held at an angle.

cheers

Indeed, on 32mm deep rims I tend to 'aim' at the target, so far with success

[Cudzoziemiec]

This forum is not as... erudite as it used to be.

[slope]

Having tried to love cranked nipple drivers and failed, I use an offcut of spoke with a nipple screwed on the thread and superglued in place. The remaining length of spoke is then covered in gear outer cable in whichever colour one fancies (I favour a selection and make a choice on mood that day). The end neatly covered with a ferrule. And a lightweight B&D cordless screwdriver.

Once all the nipple have been screwed on a few turns, I lay the wheel horizontally on my lap, with the valve hole at  3 o'clock as I look down. Then with the B&D driver held horizontally in the right hand, it gets inserted into the first spoke by the valve hole, without the need to look*, it engages with the nipple and screws it down until it's at the end of the spoke thread - either by placing one's thumbnail in the last thread, or simply by eye. The wheel is turned and all is repeated until back at the beginning.

*not so easy when using single eyelet rims or deep section horrid carbon fibre b*sta*d rims

This method does benefit from using reasonably accurate spoke lengths, but by no means ultra critical. There's enough torque in the driver to drive the last few spokes down, if the lengths are about right - and bish bash bosh, there's already a bit of tension in the wheel and it's even enough to bung in the jig and get started with the spoke key.

If the spokes are too short, one has to back them off a tad with the B&D until a few threads are visible and all are roughly even by eye.

If the spokes are too long and still loose after the nipples have been driven to the ends of the threads, it just takes a couple of goes around the wheel in the jig with a spoke key until there's enough tension to get into serious mode. One gets a feel for how loose and how many turns each nipple needs to take up the slack. Sometimes it will be two whole turns and in extreme case it can be up to four turns of the spoke key.

When I calculate spoke lengths myself, I'm fairly confident driving the nipple to the end of the spoke thread is going to be in the right ball park. When I used to build wheels for my LBS and just used to cycle over as and when wheels were needed - the proprietor usually had all the components laid out ready, or at least a list based on his calculations. There were many times when this was a bad thing I much preferred or was more confident in the spoke calculater I used than his





 

[Torslanda]

This all seems to make my own efforts laborious by comparison.

Having laced the wheel my first run with a bog stock screwdriver takes the nipple down until th thread disappears. The second takes the nipple down until the spoke head is level with the bottom of the slot in the nipple. If it requires a third then the nipple is tightened until it can no longer be turned by the screwdriver.

It takes me a long time to finish the wheel but I get remarkably few back...