Originally Posted by
lostarchitect
So far 4, and they have not gone out of true. I have never broken a spoke, ever, on any wheel.
I'm not saying I'm a pro wheelbuilder. I'm saying you don't need a truing stand to true wheels, or to get into wheelbuilding. It's an expensive item, and you might never use it again. It makes more sense to start out without it, and move up if you start feeling like you could use it.
I agree that it makes sense to at least build one or two wheels before bothering to get a truing stand unless you're really sure that you'll be using it a lot. I built myself a few wheels before seeing a really cheap truing stand for sale (very bare-bones for about $10) that I've been using ever since. My wheels have also held up fine until the rim brake track eventually gets too thin.
I haven't seen much correlation between the quality of wheel builds and the cost of the tools used in the process.