Originally Posted by
ts99
There's a truing stand in our shop at work (college engineering department) that I've borrowed. There's also a spoke tension meter or something. Does that help, or will it matter if I'm doing them one at a time? Took me a long time to true my wheels after resurrecting the bike last summer, so I'm thinking it will take really long to do all spokes, but maybe I'll get quicker at it as I go.
Tension meter is a great help for arriving at a good overall tension, tight enough to not have them loosen and the nipples unscrew in use or un-neccesarily fatigue the spokes at the J-bends. But a far faster way to even out individual spoke tensions to make a uniform wheel is to pluck them (or tap with the spoke wrench) and listen to the pitch. (Assuming you can hear pitch. Most of us can but not all.)
A trick in starting the wheel build. Adjust every spoke to exactly the same length first. I screw each nipple on exactly 4 turns With DT or Wheelsmith (or any other reputable brand) spokes fresh out of the box, this works really well. (Be aware the the two or 4 spokes around the butt opposite the valve hole may be much tighter since there is excess material inside the rim there often.) Next, true this still very loose wheel for roundness. Get side to side close. Even the spoke tensions by sound as best you can. Do all of this several times until you hae a good, super loose wheel, round. even, and true in that order of importance. Now tighten every spoke exactly two turns and repeat. As you get tighter, use the tension meter once per sequence to close into the tension you want. For rear wheels, put in too much dish early and pull the rim out to the proper dish with your final truing.
All of us have slightly different routines. This is not an exact science. More like basket weaving. And a good wheel is a lot like a good basket. Satisfying to make, to use and holds up really well.
Ben