Originally Posted by
Al1943
Why not hold spokes in position so they don't twist? I use pliers on round spokes and a small crescent wrench on bladed spooks.
It's more work that I like to bother with.
I manage twist by marking the spokes. When the wheel is firm, but not yet tight enough for spokes to twist, I spin it with a Magic Marker held so it puts a dot on one side of each spoke. That's my reference line, and I can complete the tightening process without worrying about twist. As I near final tight and true, I re-orient all the dots to where they started as I do the last turn on the nipples.
This frees me from worrying about twist until the end, and saves me time through the build. Also the grease I use is pretty effective so there isn't hat much twist in the first place.
Years ago I used to use a 4" adjustable where I ground one jaw slightly out of parallel. I then closed it and soldered it into place (super glue didn't exist yet). I could simply push it against a spoke and the taper gave enough hold to prevent twist, but over the years I decided that was too much work, and adopted my reference marking approach.
In any case, grease reduces twist, and you can use whatever tools and techniques you like to manage it. I don't claim my way is better, just that I find it better for me.