I am aware that there’s a tool available for just such a purpose, however; is it possible to tighten flat bladed spokes using mole grips or similar to keep them straight?

Mavic wheels, if that makes any difference.

Cheers!

I bodged a tool by cutting a slit in a lump of wood.
It did the job but the propper tool is better 🙂

Just don’t use a tool at all – I have a special tool for CX-rays but never use it. When you’re tensioning, turn the spoke key relative to the flat part of the spoke just above it, and then turn it back to remove the twist. All spokes wind up when tensioning, so overturning and then backing off to remove the twist is a good habit to get into.

wine cork and a penknife will do the trick

Cheers for the info!

small pliers work a treat

What aracer said. Just treat them as normal spokes, which you should be backing off anyway. The blade simply acts as a handy guide to where to back off to.

Phew – was worried it was just me! That’s certainly what I do with CX-Rays now and it works fine – as you say, the blade makes working out how much to back off a lot easier.

I broke 1 spoke (quite predictably) but otherwise it’s looking a little better. Cheers for the info.

I quite fancy building some wheels at some point. I’m considering building up a Pompino soon, so perhaps that’s the ideal opportunity…