Originally Posted by
FBinNY
Depending oh how they support the axle, they're vulnerable to errors introduced by a bent axle, or wear or distortion where the axle meets the stand. Often you can see these errors by positioning the wheel but not tightening it in place, then using a cone wrench to rotate the axle. Errors of the type I described will move the rim side to side, throwing the dish readings off. Then, depending on the construction of the stand, there's always the risk of the centering calibration going off. The Park TS-2 stands are notorious for this problem.
Sure - but at that point wouldn't one want to replace the axle/whatever was damaged rather than trying to dish the wheel? I mean if you had to do it - you have to do it but using damaged components just seems like a disaster for any sort of precision when it comes to assembly.
I have a dish tool as well but generally only use it to check the dish after the wheel comes off the stand just as confirmation that all is well. If the stand goes out of center for dish - I'll simply build a wooden disc and put a solid axle through it and then use that to re-center everything. As with any calibrated tool - the calibration does need checked periodically and possibly adjusted.
Originally Posted by
FBinNY
However, there's no need to buy a dishing gauge, since a very accurate one can be made at zero cost, whenever needed, using a table, 3 soup cans, and a stack of coins.
Anything that can touch the rim and then be adjusted to reach the axle nut reliably will work
.