Bicycle spoke nipple insertion tool

thingiverse

I enjoy crafting bike wheels and appreciate high-quality tools. I also have a fascination with 3D printing and creating useful tools using this technology. This project is an excellent example. In the photo at the top is a [$20 spoke nipple insertion tool](http://www.bikehubstore.com/product-p/mulfing.htm) that I purchased, and it's a really nice piece of steel with a tapered point that creates a friction fit when inserted into the top of a spoke nipple. This allows you to easily pass the spoke nipple through the rim and thread it onto the spoke. I've used other spokes in the past, but threading the spoke nipple onto the spare spoke takes time. Using the tapered end and friction fit is much faster. I had an idea for creating my own version of this tool, even though I already bought one - yes, even a fancy one - that anyone could 3D print. I searched until I found a screwdriver handle that I liked, then cleaned it up, removed the internal components, cut off the threads, and scaled it down. I put a hole in the end and sized this to around 2mm. Into this hole, I inserted a piece of wire from a clothes hanger, which measures 2.3mm and is therefore large enough to get the friction fit once the end is tapered. To make your own tool, find a wire clothes hanger or any wire that's around 2.3mm in diameter. Cut it to length, then file or grind a taper on the end. This may take some effort, and I suggest having a spare spoke nipple on hand to test the friction fit. Once you've done that, put the wire in a vice with the taper pointing down and lightly hammer the wire into the handle. Voila! You now have a bicycle spoke nipple inserter. To make getting at the spoke nipples from the top as easy as possible, be sure to check out my [spoke nipple shuffler](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1961341), which quickly organizes spoke nipples so they're heads up, making it really quick and easy to grab one as needed. Happy wheelbuilding! **Update:** I built a wheel using this tool instead of my purchased tool for the same purpose, and have to say that it worked quite well. The only issue I have is the taper on the end of the wire is a bit too gradual - it holds the nipple quite well but the tip continues and it winds up hitting the spoke. This isn't a huge problem, and could be addressed by shortening the pointed end of the tip.