Bicycle Mechanics - ATTN: Wheel Builders DIY dishing tools required

Hello,

I am thinking about purchasing some tools for my wheel dish project what do you think about this dish stick and stand?

http://www.nashbar.com/nashbar_photos/medium/MN-PRO.gif

This is the Minoura Workman Portable Stand. I like the park pro stand but I dont like the pro price

I was thinking about a consumer dish stick

http://www.nashbar.com/nashbar_photos/medium/PT-WAG3.gif

For cheapness could I use some 2x4's and notch openings for the wheel and go whalla I am done? Or could I chop a old x-mart bike in half and use the back half as a stand?

It's really up to you. With a good truing stand you can dish a wheel just as well without a dishing tool. Just reverse the wheel on the stand repeatedly while truing and tensioning the spokes until the rim is centered regardless of which way you mount the wheel on the stand. Like most work wheel building is 90% horse sense.

Al

If you are going to be building wheels, even a couple of sets I would recommend the tools you have shown. I have the Minoura stand and it has worked out great for the price. I also bought a Park wheel dish guage which helped out a lot time wise. If you are only doing one dishing project you could actually do it on the bike but it takes time. As far a making you own stand, it can be done, thats what I did for my first wheels, but it can be a pain and often times ends up being easier to just buy some tools.

I haven't needed a dish stick... I use Al's method of flipping the wheel, or I calibrate the centering gauge and make sure not to bump it out of place. I have the Spin Doctor truing stand which was only $30, and pretty darn similar to the Minoura. I've built 10+ wheels with it. A good value.

OP I had the sam problem this is what I did to get round it http://thomasbrickell.googlepages.com/wheeldishingtool
I have made a new wheel jig as well but just need to get it on the web. If you can get a wheel jig for 30 USD I would go with that. In the UK it cost about £30 min to get a wheel jig closer to 56 usd. This is why I made my own.

Awesome thanks for the help :) with the DIY tools

how do you calibrate the centering gauge? How oesthat work out?

You don't even need a truing stand. You can true on the bike, using one side of brake as a guide and flipping the wheel for dish, as noted above.

Now, stands are much nicer and quicker, and its easier to learn to build wheels on a stand, but they are not necessary.

For dishing, as long as you can keep it "relatively" centered it's okay. When you get it on the frame you can do the exact dishing (off by at most 1mm) by eye.

Remember to destress the wheel while you're building it.

I haven't needed a dish stick... I use Al's method of flipping the wheel, or I calibrate the centering gauge and make sure not to bump it out of place. I have the Spin Doctor truing stand which was only $30, and pretty darn similar to the Minoura. I've built 10+ wheels with it. A good value.
+1. I use the same method (and the identical truing stand, for that matter).

I got my tooling ideas from this wheelbuiling book http://www.wheelpro.co.uk/wheelbuilding/book.php and I made a dishing tool that cost me nothing, plus a nipple driver for not much more. All that money saved by making a couple of tools more than paid for the book. There are instructions for making a wheel jig but I got hold of one of those old cast iron jigs from a shop that was closing down.

Ray

I'm gonna go against the grain here. I have the same truing stand, and if you are going to use that stand you should plan on buying a dishing tool. That stand isn't designed to accurately center your wheel like the shop-quality Park stand.

You will drive yourself crazy flipping the wheel over each time to check the dish, particulary once you get the wheel pretty close and are making minor adjustments. With my dishing tool (WAG-1, now superceded), you can check the dish without taking the wheel out of the stand. This way, once you get your wheel pretty close, you can tell quickly whether you should be working from the left to bring the rim to the right, or from the right to bring the rim to the left.

In fact, even if I had the Park stand I think I would still use the dishing tool for a final check. As always, YMMV.

Thanks for the helpfull info

I'm gonna go against the grain here. I have the same truing stand, and if you are going to use that stand you should plan on buying a dishing tool. That stand isn't designed to accurately center your wheel like the shop-quality Park stand.


Actually the Park TS2 stand doesn't center all wheels accurately unless you flip the wheel on the stand. The TS3 may do a better job.