The point of the article is to show the first time wheel builder how the writer (Mike T) builds a wheel that will be round, true and durable. He does not mean to compare his skills with folks who have built thousands of wheels or have worked in a bike shop since the memory of man runneth not to the contrary. While being able to build a wheel an hour, all day long, is important for a mechanic doing it for a living, it matters not for a first timer; or for someone whose time is their own and is more interested in doing it right than doing it fast... "This is not a race".

The OP asked for wheel building tips. The cited article is full of them. The section on low-cost DIY tools is especially helpful if one is on a tight budget. The instructions are clear and concise and, if followed, will produce a good wheel, if the builder does his part. Most of what Mike says about how to build a wheel is echoed in any number of books offered for sale... he makes it available for free. He does not present his way as "The One True Thing". It's just the way he does it.

Jobst Brandt, Gerd Schraner and Sheldon Brown all have different ways of lacing up a wheel. Is only one of them right? Of course not. Any of the three methods will produce a good wheel. To discard all of the other advice from any of these three, just because one does not agree with their lacing method, would be ridiculous... as ridiculous as throwing out all of Mike's advice because you don't think he moves fast enough.

For the record, Here is the complete section from which you lifted the 3 hour bit out of context. I think it shows, quite clearly, the reason for the first timer to take as much time as needed.

"Let's stop right here for a second.

All Newbie wheel builders get all excited and want to ride the wheels that they are building so they start to rush and cut corners. Taking down all the spokes by very small amounts and doing this evenly is time consuming. You guys all wanna rush this bit and try them babies right? Well, lemme tell ya that cutting corners and rushing here will waste you 3x the amount of time to do it slowly and properly later.
The rim will be so off center and spoke tensions so unbalanced you'll wish you'd never started. Believe me, I've heard enough of you piss and whine - take your time here and do it properly!!
Sorry to go on but you'll thank me in the end. A decent wheelbuild will take me three hours for each wheel and and I've been doing them for forty freakin' years. You guys want to have a pair done in that time and be 5 miles down the trail too. Sheesh!

Before you even start, get the bike and ride for two hours sooooo hard that you can't ride again for two days. Sigh..........Ok back to the job Buster"