sonatageek

I have used the brake pad method a few times on junker bikes that came from the trash that I was giving away. Bought a Park TS-2 and a base for it last year and only recently started to really use it. The only way to get good at something is to do it a bunch of times, and so far I have worked my way through 24 wheels that have been sitting in my spare parts pile. Had two that had failed rims that are going to scrap.

That was enough practice to move onto the wheels on the bikes that will be flipped come spring. Having the professional stand let me concentrate on the truing task and not the tool, which I found nice. The stand and base cost under $200 and I figure it already paid for itself in this first years use.

Of course I had the money to buy it from the previous years bike flips.

eddy m

The Plaskolite is about 5 mm thick, but it's rigid enough because the only load on it is the weight of the dial. I hold it vertically and parallel to the spoke. Zeroing the dial is just rotating the face so the the needle lines up with zero, it has nothing to do with whatever you use to hold the dial.

em

eddy m

Sonatageek
I was never able to see the gap in brake pads well enough to true a road bike wheel, so I only use that method for fast repairs on fat tire wheels. If I had to do 24 wheels I think I would probably get a TS2, but for my 1 or 2 wheels per year production schedule, my homebrew stand works just as well or better, although it takes a little longer to set up properly.

em

dsellinger

Thanks eddy m, I was thinking it was more it more complicated then it is. Sounds easy and I should be able to add some posts to my currant dial gauge stand and be able to use it.

And problems getting the round gauge tip to stay centered on a round spoke?

eddy m

No. The radius of the gauge tip is large enough that it stays there. Adding a plastic tip with straight edge would be a small improvement, and I'll probably do that. Ball bearing posts would be another improvement, but they are way to costly for me, and not necessary because the load on the posts is only a few ounces.

em

rousseau

Well, I finally finished my homemade truing stand. I'm extremely pleased with it! Many thanks to DannoXYZ, who set me on the right path when he confirmed my doubts here:

You were right, it didn't work, and I gave up on that tack. But you didn't stop there, you also said this:

Yes! That worked! I went to a hardware store and got a tap wrench for $17 and a drill bit and die for another $5, bringing the total cost of my truing stand to about $40 (though having those tap and die tools is a good investment, so perhaps the, ahem "true" cost of the stand is about $18). Here's the final result, save for slicing off the mitred end of the one 2X2:



With wheel:



In action:



I was getting frustrated for a while trying to eye up wheels to true them, as I wasn't getting the accuracy I wanted. Then it dawned on me: why not go by sound?

It works marvellously. What I do now is twist the bolt out a tad, listen for spots where the rim touches it, and true those spots. I then repeat the process until the wheel is virtually perfect. I think I end up turning the bolt a 1/8th turn about 5 or 6 times in total for a wheel that's a bit out of true. It's just a slight wisp of a graze on the rim, so there's no harm done. But the results are absolutely fantastic. I've never had such straight wheels!

theopowers

Very impressive. Not my preferred style of stand but I would say that the threaded screw you put in makes it as accurate as any stand on the market. And I agree that your true cost is $18...as long as you use those tools again.

I still think you need a roundness indicator though for best results.

Black Shuck

Here's mine that a workmate built for me:



It swivels and is adjustable for width, works best when clamped to a table with a C-clamp. Guy said it took him 30 minutes to build.

rousseau

That just occurred to me, too. I think I'll mount a bracket onto a piece of wood directly underneath the wheel and tap a bolt into it to use for vertical trueness. I'll post my results when I get around to that.

Thanks for the feedback. And Black Shuk, that's a nice stand you got there!

eddy m

How does that work? What is the copper wire on the right side? What do you use as a reference for roundness?

em

eddy m

That looks good, but I prefer a 2 sided stand because I can push the rim sideways enough to relieve the tension a little when I tighten the spoke. I would also put a plastic cap over the bolt head (or use a nylon bolt) to prevent scratching the rim. Instead of tapping the fork, I might try placing a spring between the bolt head and the fork, then holding the bolt in place with a wing nut. That would give you a spring loaded indicator that would never bind.

em

Black Shuck

The copper wire was an idea we had about maybe using a microphone hooked to a computer running a guitar tuning app to use as a rough guide for tension, didn't have a sensitive enough mic so i dropped the idea :-P

The bolt on the far leg of the stand can be used as a reference for roundness as well.

Joshua A.C. New

Both of these are pretty cool.

rousseau

I've added a straight-edge wooden stir stick to my homemade truing stand as a means of fixing radial trueness, and I'm really very pleased with the results. However, I'm intrigued by the notion of dial gauges/indicators. Where do you get them? At the hardware store? What are some brand names or models that you might suggest?

eddy m

Rousseau
I get dials at a used tool store near my home. Otherwise, get them at Harbor Freight or Ebay. The cheapest ones work fine for this kind of thing.

em

zoro

I personally use the TS-2, but part of it is due to my relative incompetence with wheel truing and bulding. It seems that with the TS-2, I get some very satisfactory results vs the good ol' brake pad trick that never cut the mustard enough for me. My friend, a skilled woodworker, is building a stand with R. Musson's plan. Should be every bit as good as a TS-2. But sometimes, forking out 160 for a pro stand doesn't sound that expensive when you take for account it will last for the rest of your life.

Mr. Underbridge

Yeah, but it's so much more satisfying to make one out of materials that would make MacGyver wince.

Personally, I wait until a rainy, crappy day has my brake pads gunky as all hell. Then I clean the rim and spin the wheel gently, then apply each brake pad very lightly. It paints the rim with crap wherever it sticks out. Repeat until true.

I think I might convert a trainer I haven't used for a couple of years into a stand. It already has the radial check with the tension wheel.

rousseau

I found a dial indicator in stock at the fourth place I tried in my town. Sheesh, everybody wants to tell you about it and order it for you, nobody has one in stock to let you hold it in your hand. Except for the one place. Here's the set-up now:



I'm very happy with it! I've just torn apart my first wheel build and relaced them with proper-sized new spokes and with lubrication on the spoke threads and in the spokes holes (I can't believe what a difference lubrication makes). I also bought and downloaded Roger Musson's online wheel-building book and followed his instructions to the letter. This time the wheels came together beautifully.

It was only my second build, but I think I'm starting to get a system. Once the spokes are up to a modicum of tension I put the wheel on my bike and have a look at trueness and dishing, and make minor adjustments to both. I then put it on the stand and do a preliminary radial and lateral true with the bolt and the horizontal stick, after which I go back to the bike to make sure the dishing looks good and make any adjustments if necessary. Then it's back to the stand, where I do a quarter turn on each spoke to raise the tension if it needs it. I do another eighth turn if necessary. Then I use the dial for radial truing first, followed by lateral truing.

It's great fun using the dial! I really, really enjoyed the wheel-build this time. Question: will spoked wheels such as we currently know them still be commonplace twenty years from now? I hope so, because I think I've found an avocation for my retirement!

rousseau

Homemade truing stand, generation 2: the realization that the magnetic dial indicator stand will "stick" to the metal on the vice leads to a new innovation. Duh!

rousseau

Truth be told, I was never all that happy with the fork-in-the-vice setup. So I went back to Roger Musson's book (see here; I'm no relation, I just think it's a great book, as do numerous other people on BF.net) and built the stand according to his plans. Here's what I ended up with:







I went to my friendly local machine shop and paid a guy $30 to make the two holders that receive the axle and $15 to cut the plate that the magnetic dial gauge sits on. The MDF board was a couple bucks. It split when I tried to put wood screws into it, so at the suggestion of the guy at my friendly local hardware store I picked up a nifty dowel jig for $18 and used dowels and glue everywhere one MDF piece meets another (I've become addicted--making dowel joints is fun!).

The truing stand works. I'm flushed with DIY self-satisfaction. The crude finish to the stand is due to the dull blade on my mitre saw. The two gaps at the front left of the stand represent my first attempt at using a jigsaw to carve out the canals that allow the one support to slide back and forth for different sized wheels. I made the opening for the one canal too wide, with the result that the head of the bolt underneath would slip through unless I put a large washer on it, though then it didn't tighten properly. On my second attempt I got it right.

Scarecrow7

Lots of good ideas here on DIY wheel truing stands!

I'm learning to true wheels and having a blast!
I have trued my wheels and the wheels for a couple of friends to +/-002"

First I was attempting to true the wheels while on the bike and did a pretty good job. I built the truing stand below and truing on it is much easier than on the bike!

cny-bikeman

[QUOTE=theopowers;8015385]How do you deal with roundness accurately with just an old fork? Not sarcasm, honest question.
QUOTE]

One can use almost anything that will give some feedback when attached to the fork blade and passed under the wheel. I've seen folks use cable ties, even a large rubber band passed over both fork blades.

Tunnelrat81

Here's my Roger Musson truing stand. It works great and was pretty simple to build. I've been really happy with it and have built 3-4 wheels with it so far. Couldn't be happier, especially since including his book with plans, it came to around $30-35 i think.



-Jeremy

Bianchigirll 

this thing is awsome. I would almost pay a bit more than $30-40 for one of these.

ultraman6970

Dunno if anybody mentioned it, a truing stand is necessary but it needs to have a dishing gauge to work with it too. Move the wheel back and forth to figure it out the dishing it will work but a dishing gauge will be better.