You will need a truing stand a must and a lot of practice, but doable. I learned how to build my own wheels on my own through trial and error. I have built 11 wheels since and have become quite proefficient at building them now. I have laced 3X, radial lace, and 2X laced rims; and from this I've learned that the important thing is the correct tensioning is key to a successful build. I learn to tension by feel, that's my approach. I originally started by just copying the 3X lacing pattern from an old wheel that I had from an old bike. Of course I had to constantly retensioned my first build in the beginning but after awhile I got the hang of it. So from the 3X cross I moved to building radial lacing and 2X to further enhance my understanding and needs for a more personal performance requirement that suited me. So if you are at least somewhat decent at keeping your own wheels trued, I would say you can easily learn to build your own, I did and on my own at that.