Right, sussed it...
All that was actually required to 'short' the wheels was a slight change to my existing technique. Y'see I'd normally cut the groove up the back of the spoke and notches in the hub/flange in one shot using a carborundum slitting disc in the minidrill. This is mainly an expediancy.
So, time for a think. What else could I do, other than use a slitting disc? Thanks to both Jim and Graham for ideas. In the end I came up with this:
Known invariably as an Olfa cutter, Tamiya cutter, scrawker, laminate cutter, plastic scriber, etc, etc. I have a couple of them in my tool box; the black handled (Tamiya) one is always kept clean and tidy for styrene work; this one is used more (ahem) agriculturally, to score brass or, in this case, to put a groove down the back of a spoke.
Marking out begins like this, with a blob of marker pen on the rim adjacent to your chosen spoke, and a centre pop mark on the brass bush, also in line with the chosen spoke:
The cutter is then used to slot the spoke, each end then being flared out slightly with the point of a scalpel:
The brass hub is then drilled 0.5mm on the pop mark given earlier. The hub and rim then being notched with a slitting disc in a drill:
I then formed the 26swg tinned copper wire by putting a right angle bend in one end (to go through the drilled hole in the hub) and then it's drawn along the spoke with a suitable implement (I used a small screwdriver). Then the end it joins the rim is tinned with 'electrical' solder (in my case a good old cored tin/lead eutectic):
Thread the wire back into the boss. I hate soldering this joint so now use a 'cold weld'; leave around 0.5 - 0.75 of the wire proud of the hub when you trim the wire. Support the boss and then use a parallel punch and hammer to knock back the copper wire until it's flush with the front face of the hub, this will cause the wire to barrel out and jam itself in the hole. This shot shows the hub with the wire cut off, but before it's fixed:
After fixing it in the hub it can be soldered into the rim. Use plenty of flux and a hot iron so you can get in, make the joint, and out again as quickly as possible:
And that's pretty much it other than trimming up the wire at the rim.
Any good?
Steph