As a follow up to What came in the post for you today? one year later.

I have had no problems at all with the Kowa, great little machine and puts a nice thread with a clean cut end onto a spoke. You need to take time to understand the machine and watch all of the videos on you tube by "Wheels by Flemming" https://www.youtube.com/@wheelsbyfleming, this is a complete Kowa course (don't you just love when people are so generous with their time/knowledge? Thank you Robert https://www.bikeforums.net/members/mrrabbit-108770.html).

What have I changed? The micro adjuster screw. I bought a screw with an indent/cup in the end and used epoxy to hold a very small bearing. The idea is this presents a more consistent edge for the adjustment arm to act upon and keeps the measurement (more) linear. I also wanted an allen key to fit in the end so I could judge the angle of the adjustment turns. I found a butterfly/wing nut easier to snug when holding the allen key.





The next thing is I found on ebay (another!) Robert selling threaded pool balls for gear sticks (https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/robert38foggarty) and asked him for 8mm thread on a 2" ball (he has smaller available).

The Kowa comes with a 1" ball, which is ok, but I found that it puts pressure into your palm, and when cutting 72 spokes you should avoid this (btw Robert of Wheels by Flemming, stresses this point in his videos, take note). The pool balls are excellent at spreading the load with a smooth surface.

I think it functions much like the Morizumi in that the cutting and threading operations are separate, not combined like the Phil Wood machine.
The advantage of this is that you can cut a spoke in the threaded portion and the dies will pick up the original threads. My Morizumi will reliably rethread spokes when shortened by as little as two mm.
I would be interested to know if the Kowa also has this capability.
If you do a lot of spoke threading, you might want to consider mounting some kind of counter on it. I wish I had done that when I first bought it thirteen and a half years ago.
I intended to do it, even bought a little mechanical counter shortly after I bought the machine, but didn't get around to it until 10 years later.
I estimate I put somewhere around 50,000 spokes through it before I finally got around to mounting it.
In the 3 1/2 years since mounting the counter, I have put over 15,000 spokes through it.

Hi Dan, I believe it has the capability (after reading posts by Robert) of re-threading a spoke but to be honest I have not needed to shorten and re-roll used spokes. I mostly do vintage wheel restoration and if they have spokes, then they are usually past their best or galvanised so I will use new spokes (I keep non-threaded and cut and use as I need). I will test re-threading and come back to you.

I am not a prolific builder because I am still working nose to the grindstone during the day, but I am getting ready for retirement when I will allow myself to get busier. Which brings me to the counter. Yes, I take your point, fit it sooner rather than later! I have thought about it since I bought it, so I must get on and do it (I still have 9 years in which to do it! lol). I have too many restorations in the waiting room, they are getting impatient!

My only gripe with the Kowa is the cutter measure. It only shows 300mm on the scale (but does clamp way above this) and vintage spokes can be longer than this, easy to work around, but I will find a measure transfer sometime to put on. It is very accurate and a superbly clean cut, so only a small gripe.

Prior to acquiring the machine, I would have to source specific length spokes, and it seemed no matter how much stock I had on hand, I would end up needing lengths I didn't have, so would have to order more, which meant delays, and more left over odd lenghts.
I had a huge stock of odd lengths that instantly became useable once I got the machine.
Most of the spokes I use are butted, so the available length to shorten is limited, but DT Swiss Competition spokes can usually be shortened by 25 mm or so, which makes them nearly as versatile as blanks.
Pre threaded Sapim Race spokes have far less available length. They are good for maybe 6 or 7 mm shortening length, but they offer blanks in two sizes to cover everything from about 240mm to 310.
Now, I buy blanks almost exclusively, so I no longer find myself accumulating part boxes of odd lengths.
If a build shows up on my doorstep, I don't have to wait for spoke delivery, I can get right to work.

I like Alpina and for double butted these cover what I need; 310 (55MM no thread) & 270 (45MM no thread). Obviously 310mm straight gauge is very handy.

Like you before getting a SCT machine I used a Hozan. Good, but slow. The most difficult part using the Hozan was cutting spokes to a consistent length in batches I thought. I did find an old Mikado cutter (missing the spoke length stop!) and used to screw a stop block onto the table when I wanted to cut many.
If anyone reading this is setting up with the Hozan, maybe try drilling the handle of some snips and screwing that down with a movable block on some "T"-track, that was going to be my next move but then thought, "what the hell", the kowa does make it a breeze.....and now the larger pool ball stops any strain.