To put things in context, I'm a hobby wheel builder. I get in practice by getting hold of old wheels, taking them apart and reassembling them ... just for the fun of it. Being a hobbyist, I've got a small number of fairly inexpensive and/or homemade tools. Getting hold of old wheels to practice on is a very good and cheap way of doing things. I know that the rims, hubs and spokes are all going to fit back together. The problem is in taking the wheels apart. It's a long process and I find that I'm forever dropping my inexpensive nipple key as it doesn't grip the nipple. ! No such problems any more! This tool slips over the spoke then slides down the spoke and grips the flats on all 4 sides. It's accurately made and there's very little slop. It feels comfortable in the hand. But by far the most important thing is that, because it grips the nipple so well, it doesn't slip off. I wish I'd bought one to begin with. This will make the disassembling of wheels very much faster and it grips the nipples so I won't be dropping and losing them. It will also, of course, make the building much easier as well. Particularly, when working with aluminium nipples, it's quite easy to damage them with ill-fitting tools. No such problem here. It's well-made out of quality materials. I expect my grandchildren will be using it to repair and build their own wheels when I'm dead and gone! If you look on YouTube, you'll find lots of hacks for building wheels. You can use your upturned frame as a stand; you can make your own dishing gauge, you can even make little tools for picking up and loosely starting the nipples. But the one thing that they ALL have in common is they use a good nipple key. Your nipple key is the most important tool you can possibly have for messing about with wheels. This is the one you want!
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Does the job.
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Good spoke tensioner
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