I worked in a bike shop in the 70s. Trued hundreds of wheels, but only the head mechanic and a couple others that had worked with him for years built wheels at the shop. No training for the rest of us on the mystical arts of wheel building. Later, I built a couple for my own use, that was pre-internet and I did a sloppy job on them. Then the internet came along. Then in 2004 I decided to build up a new bike, and building my own wheels looked like a good idea. I found Sheldon Browns tutorial which was excellent, and have built up about a dozen since. It probably takes an extra quarter to a half hour to do that without a truing stand per wheel, but when you do two wheels at a time, a truing stand is a pretty low priority.

One bike, I asked a friend of mine that donates time to a bike charity to check spoke tension since he had access to a gauge. When I had that set of wheels spot on, I just made sure that the spokes on my other wheels felt about the same tightness.

I will be building up one more wheel in a month or two, the internet parts seller is waiting for one backordered part before they ship my order. That is a front wheel and undished, easy to true that up in the fork of an upside down bike.

But, fat bikes, I don't go there. i stay between 25mm and 57mm for my tire widths.