Originally Posted by sabretech2001

I've been building my own wheels for twenty years now, no way I'd ride on wheels I didn't build with my own hands.
First off you get exactly what you want. Me, I want 14/15 double butted on the drive side of the rear wheel, 15/16 everywhere else. Asymnetrical, inside pulling, cross 3, too.
Hint 1: Allow lots of time. Rushing the build, unless you build wheels often (and therefore have lots of practice) is going to bite you in the @ss.
Hint 2: There are online spoke length calculators. Use them. Sub-Hint: the spoke calculators, especially the DT one, will tell you that the front wheel spokes are to be one (or so) millimeter longer than the non-drive side on the rear wheel. Ignore that: get them all the same size. You will end up with, for the rear wheel, drive side spokes that are 3mm longer than the non-drive side, which will lead right into:
Hint 3: Got a tensiometer? I don't. How do you keep the spoke tensions somewhat even? Count the number of rotations for each spoke. Remember Hint 1? Leave yourself ample time! Each spoke, in my experience, gets between 12 and 18 turns to get to full tension. I generally give each spoke 12 turns to get everything in loose order, ie to make sure the lacing pattern is right, and the spoke pattern doesn't interfere with access to the valve stem. From there the wheel goes into the truing stand for the rest of the build. Remember the 2-3 mm difference in spoke length for the rear wheel? The shorter, drive side spokes will allow you to tighten all the rear spokes the same number of turns and takes care of most (usually all) of the necessary dish. For my fix wheels (single sided Campys) the length difference is 1mm, although you can use equal length with no problem.
Hard anodized rims are, well, hard. They're very stiff and they lace up and true quickly. Because of the stiffness, an undertensioned spoke can get through without you noticing, so be careful. Plain aluminum rims are a lot softer, so they take a bit longer to set up, as any variance in tension will show up as the rim being out of round. However, you'll be sure that the wheel is really round when you're done.
Hint 4: get the roundness and trueness set while the spokes are fairly loose. It's a lot easier.
Hint 5: Make sure to run up the tension! Most folks, myself included, don't tension the spokes properly at first. As a practical matter, it's pretty hard to overtighten the spokes. If you find that the nipples are pulling through the rim because of the tension you're putting them under, you should probably rethink rolling your own.
Hint 6: Sleep on it. After you think you're done, put them down and check them the next day. You'd be surprised.