I feel like there's an obvious answer here but I'm missing it. Other than buying a specific tool, what can you use to clamp a flat bladed spoke to stop it twisting when adjusting the tension? I've tried the adjustable pliers but it's not really doing the trick and scanned through the toolbox/messy drawer of things/etc for something with a 1-2mm slot that might work but no luck so far.
A very small adjustable wrench or your LBS will probably have a box full of the small plastic tools that come with some wheelsets
Could you not just notch a bit of wood or metal using a hacksaw blade to get the required notch thickness? Or a small adjustable spanner with some tape on the jaws to avoid marring the spokes?
It seems like the sort of thing that could be easily 3-D printed. I'd be amazed if there weren't people out there on ebay selling 3-d printed versions of that kind of thing.
If its not urgent, I could knock something up in a day or two.
Sounds like a ready excuse to purchase some of them Knipex spannerpliers. They have smooth jaws so shouldn't damage the finish.
For a one off, a bit of inner tube over the end of some pliers. Needed more than once, buy a cheap tool as the ease of use is worth the small outlay
thanks - i'll try the hacksaw trick first and see if the blade thickness works. I do like sound of the excuse of a pair of Knipex though - a pair of "86 05 180" - Pliers Wrench - would solve many issues.
Nearby LBS has closed unfortunately, it was only 150m away 🙁
I recently bought the DT tool for just this. I've messed about with pliers etc in the past but this was pretty inexpensive and vastly easier to use.
I'm sure there's a proper tool but I was also going to say Kinpex Pliers Wrench.
They're a fairly handy thing to have around anyway. You can get soft jaw covers for them but an old inner tube or whatever would work just as well.
Cork with a slit cut into it ??
Molegrips and some cardboard works pretty well. Annoying to move and clamp especially in the final stages but in the earlier stages way less annoying than using anything nonlocking imo.
You can easily diy something by cutting a suitable slot in, well, pretty much anything. I've no idea what mine is, some random bit of plastic I found.
I bought the proper tool, it's not expensive.
I do have a proper tool somewhere but tbh my Random Bit Of Plastic is better. Not least because it has only one slot and it's the right size, whereas my proper tool has 1 slot the correct size and 5 the wrong size.
My favourite would be the DT Swiss bladed spoke holder combined the DT Swiss nipple wrench as you are able to hold the spoke just above the nipple, I have seen quite a few spokes twisted between the nipple and the top of the spoke key. (or use squorx or double square nipples to adjust from the back)
They are similiar designs on printables.
To get a job done you can make a narrow slot in a bit of plastic, tyre lever etc, just depends what scrap you have lying about and a thin blade that will leave a narrow kerf.
Or use whatever pliers ,adjustable etc you have, you can pad or tape the jaws to prevent marking. The tiny Knipex pliers wrench are very effective.
