Originally Posted by Trakhak

The late Jobst Brandt (Porsche engineer, author of The Bicycle Wheel) tested tied and soldered wheels and demonstrated conclusively that tying and soldering contributes nothing of use to bicycle wheels.

It is possible that the practice of tying and soldering wheels dates back to Racing Ordinary/penny farthing bike days, when mild steel spokes were used to build 52"-inch-diameter wheels (and when the practice of overlapping spokes was introduced, not to increase wheel strength, which it doesn't, but to keep broken spokes from flapping outward and contacting the fork or the rider's legs).