tie and solder - where to get beekeepers wire

[pavel]

Does anyone know of a cheap supplier of beekeepers wire? I dont need 100m, just a couple of wheels worth.

I got some steel wire from my LBS that i guess is used on shimano disc brakes, but I cannot get the solder to stick to it. I think it may be the wrong material.

Any advice, help, heckling welcome.

[pavel]

oops. meant to post this in general. mods please close

[pavel]

Does anyone know of a cheap supplier of beekeepers wire? I dont need 100m, just a couple of wheels worth.

I got some steel wire from my LBS that i guess is used on shimano disc brakes, but I cannot get the solder to stick to it. I think the wire itself may be the wrong material.

Any advice, help, heckling welcome.

[illuminaught]

http://sheldonbrown.com/brandt/tied-soldered.html

[Steve in SLO]

GIYF
'Beekeeping supplies'
http://www.jonesbee.com/tools.html
1 lb spool $9.18

Of course it is an absolute waste of time, According to Sheldon's website, although it looks cool.

There, I have provided information and heckled all in one post. I am getting good at this.:beer:

[Louis]

1) Did you try degreasing the wire? Window cleaner (something like Windex) is good for that.

2) Was your solder fluxless, or did it have flux?

[bart998]

Copper wire is available at any hardware store and looks/works great. You don't need to solder it if you use a hangman's knot (but you can if you want too).

[benitosan1972]

Paul... a beekeeper lives right down the street from me.
A real beekeeper. The front of his house is devoted to selling
beekeeping supplies like wire, screens, suits, masks, etc. Seriously!!!

[Bruce K]

Closing this one - duplicate.

Please continue your discussion in the other thread.

BK

[AngryScientist]

threads merged

[rwsaunders]

Good old thread chatter about T&S....supplies from DT Swiss too.

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=17302&highlight=soldering+wheels&page=2

http://www.dtswiss.com/Accessories/Proline-Accessories

[oldpotatoe]

Does anyone know of a cheap supplier of beekeepers wire? I dont need 100m, just a couple of wheels worth.

I got some steel wire from my LBS that i guess is used on shimano disc brakes, but I cannot get the solder to stick to it. I think it may be the wrong material.

Any advice, help, heckling welcome.

See Tony at Bicycle Odyssey or the gent that owns the Bike Nook.

Both those guys, I'll bet, understand the value of T/S and probably have the wire.

[lookout2015]

Does anyone know of a cheap supplier of beekeepers wire? I dont need 100m, just a couple of wheels worth.

I got some steel wire from my LBS that i guess is used on shimano disc brakes, but I cannot get the solder to stick to it. I think it may be the wrong material.

Any advice, help, heckling welcome.

I've used tinned copper wire I got from Radio Shack. If there's one still in business around you...

[11.4]

I've tied and soldered for many years, in particular on the track and for cross. I'd advise against copper wire -- it work hardens and becomes extremely brittle. The solder is just there to keep the wire in place -- it's the wire that holds the spokes -- so if your wire starts cracking, the connection comes apart. There's a reason why steel wire is recommended.

I actually have a better wire than beekeeper's wire. I'm sure beekeeper's wire was handy to Schraner when he recommended it, but I prefer stainless binding wire for jewelers. You can buy spools of it very inexpensively from Frei & Borel (San Francisco), Gesswein (Connecticut), or Rio Grande Jewelers Supply (Albuquerque). Great stuff. It doesn't discolor, it comes nice and clean.

As for technical problems, if it's a new wheel you should have no problems at all. If an old one with grease and dirt accumulated, it needs more than a wipe -- actually spray out the spoke crossings you're going to tie with some carburetor cleaner to get rid of the junk. Then be sure you're using some solder with a flux core. I prefer rosin-core solder but with stainless spokes and stainless wire, acid-core won't hurt anything (copper pipes can put up with acid-core solder but thin wires are more susceptible to corrosion). You can paint the joint with a little plumber's flux if you need some extra help, but the stuff should adhere just fine. I'm guessing that your problem comes from heating the solder directly rather than the spokes -- if the solder is hot and melts but the metal underneath is still cooler, the solder will ball up and run off. You'll just get the burnt remnants of the flux left behind. I've used all kinds of heating devices, but a heavy pencil soldering iron heats each joint in about 10 seconds and doesn't overheat the spokes. Just get a big tip for it, plus a file to file it down to bright metal regularly. Heat up the iron and touch some solder to the tip so it covers smoothly -- keep filing if it doesn't cover smoothly and repeat. Then just start soldering, but heat the spoke and apply the solder to the spoke to melt it. It'll look very smooth and neat. I like to wipe the freshly soldered joint quickly with a towel to knock off excess solder -- obviously do it while the solder is still molten.

When everything is cold and set, I use a toothbrush and some hot soap and water to clean the soldered joints of any flux -- it'll be dark and slightly sticky. When you have a bright silvery joint, either leave it like that, or do the old Masi trick and paint the joints with some Testor's model paint. Yellow is the traditional Masi color. Gold works well also. Dark colors look odd and accentuate any unevenness in the T&S job, and make the bike look like some fixie rider on the street got his hands on it. Paint used to help when spokes were plated and solders were pretty poor. Nowadays it's just for bling.

[pavel]

thanks for the advice all.

Bennett where is that place you're talking about?