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Is there a market for spoke cutting? I know JRA have a Phil Wood machine and sell spokes in any length, but they don't charge more because they are cut to length.
Yes, it reduces the number of sizes you need to stock... if you used only plain gauge to virtually only one length needed, but realistically these days you need double butted, so you still need 5 mm increments. Some spokes cannot be cut (as above D-Light, but also Alpine 3 I think)... I don't know if it ever pays for itself. it is a nice piece of kit and tools are an investment... besides, if you do it as a business you can write it off your tax, which is a win win situation if you are not desperate for cash.
I would still not buy it though... I believe in the long run they are getting obsolete
ugosantalucia-
You're right, I rarely use plain gauge and wonder if my little side business is actually big enough to warrant such purchase. It would be nice to have when I can't source a particular length and just order 2-3mm longer and trim it. But realistically how often does that happen? Once or twice a month perhaps. And I don't keep stocks of spokes due to the investment required especially due to clients specifying which spokes they would like for their build. Do bike shops and independent wheel builders require spokes cut to length? Would they be happy to pay say 15p per spoke to have it cut? It would be nice to get some figures but where would I find that?
I think this decision is going to remain in the pending tray.
arup
Thanks for that. I do have some spare cash at the moment so thought it might be a good long term investment. I could easily at a page to my website about a spoke cutting and threading service. If I charged 20p per spoke I would break even at around 12,500 spokes. But the main attraction is that there wouldn't be any bottleneck of waiting for spokes to arrive during an order and I could turn them around much faster.