Johan Bornman Posted February 19, 2011 Posted February 19, 2011 I've just acquired a Morizumi spoke cutting and threading machine. It arrived on Friday and this afternoon I finally had time to open the box and play. This 24 kg baby can cut and thread any spoke to any length. Round, bladed, black, silver, it doesn't care. Made in Japan by Morizumi san, a post-graduate ex-samurai swordmaker who works in exotic steel in tiny tolerances and finished in Ninja-black, this machine will now be put to work to solve my biggest problem in my wheelbuilding business - availability of spokes. Spokes for mountain and road bikes come in sizes from 240mm through 304mm, in 1mm incriments, in two colours and three styles. Black, silver, bladed, round, double-butted and Revolution (1.5mm). Sometimes I even get the odd 1.8mm spoke to throw a spanner in the works. Imagine the number of permutations I have to keep in stock to help everyone! Now I can modify existing spokes by cutting them to the right length and rolling on new threads. Three weeks ago I had to build a set of 650C Zipp deep section 404s for a handbike customer. I had to order the spokes from outer Mongolia and even then, had to apply a trick or two to make the available sizes fit. The project took four weeks due to spoke delays. If I had to do that same job tonight, it'll be finished before you can say "Top Gear re-run). For those who care, it has two actions. One action just cuts the spokes to length. Once you're finished with that, you roll on the thread using the other side of the machine. Spoke threads are tiny - 56 of them per inch. The precision in the Morizumi is so good, should you just trim a spoke a little and leave some thread on, it will match that thread in the die and simply extend it, not re-roll it. And all of that without fuss - you just insert the spoke and pull a lever. Pram wheels with Sapim CX-ray spokes anyone?
VincentBikes Posted February 19, 2011 Posted February 19, 2011 Great Stuff Johan!!!!!!!!!Enjoy the toy.
gummibear Posted February 19, 2011 Posted February 19, 2011 Wow,that's some piece of engineering. I would love to see your workshop one day.
javadude Posted February 19, 2011 Posted February 19, 2011 Very nice, i'm jealous. Can you only cut single guage spokes to length? With double butted isn't it an issue to trim the thicker butted section or does it not really matter?
Johan Bornman Posted February 19, 2011 Author Posted February 19, 2011 Very nice, i'm jealous. Can you only cut single guage spokes to length? With double butted isn't it an issue to trim the thicker butted section or does it not really matter? Good question, I see you understand the issues. DT Swiss double-butted spokes have about 60mm of 14 gauge (2mm) section at the thread end. You can use all of it up, if you want. However, DT Revolution spokes have a very short butt and you can trim only about 6mm off it before you run into the thinner section. However, even that is enough. I can now take 263mm spoke and make it 260, saving a trip to the supplier, re-using existing stock etc. The amount of times that I need one or two spokes just 3mm shorter than what I have in stock is frequent. Zip, zap, done. This machine can do 1.8mm and 2mm spokes. Luckily 1.8mm isn't popular in ZA and I only find them on the odd DT Swiss wheel.It is a stupid idea in anyway. Another example is Zipp wheels. The two sides have 3mm differences on the back wheel. These spokes are very expensive and I keep just a few in stock. However, if I stock left, I need right. If I stock right, I need left. If I stock right and left, I need one more left that I have stock of. Zip, zap, problem over.
Johan Bornman Posted February 19, 2011 Author Posted February 19, 2011 Jig Johan, hierdie is nou rerig cool!Welkom terug, waar was jy?
splat Posted February 19, 2011 Posted February 19, 2011 That is quite a piece of work! (I would hate to know what something like that might cost...)
kosmonooit Posted February 19, 2011 Posted February 19, 2011 Baie naaice! Quality like that hard to find. How long does it take to roll the thread on a spoke? All you need now is one of these: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55OZO9ZRWP0&feature=player_detailpage
eggsovereasywithteandtoast Posted February 19, 2011 Posted February 19, 2011 Cutting takes as long as it takes for you to tap the 'Enter" button Threading takes as long as it takes for you to run your finger along the length of your "space" bar.
Johan Bornman Posted February 19, 2011 Author Posted February 19, 2011 Cutting takes as long as it takes for you to tap the 'Enter" button Threading takes as long as it takes for you to run your finger along the length of your "space" bar. That about sums it up. I reckon I can comfortably do 20 a minute. Not good enough to start a spoke factory but certainly not slow enough to make it an issue.
Johan Bornman Posted February 19, 2011 Author Posted February 19, 2011 Baie naaice! Quality like that hard to find. How long does it take to roll the thread on a spoke? All you need now is one of these: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55OZO9ZRWP0&feature=player_detailpage I've seen one of these in action in Holland. It turns all 32 nipples at once and does an incredible job of turning out wheels. However, these things cannot bring wheels up to the high tension required for durable wheels. It cannot sense when the spokes start to twist from the nipple torsion. Therefore they set the machine to stop turning just under the spoke's wind-up point, leaving you with a less than optimum wheel. However, the way they stress relieve these wheels (in another machine), is awesome.
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