Originally Posted by cranky

When I put my order in with Harris Cyclery(from Sheldon's site), you can specify to let them determine the spoke length for you. You tell them the make/model of your hub and rim, the number of spokes and lacing pattern. I figured they could do a much better job at it than I could. I did find the Excel spreadsheet and it works really well, but only if you know EXACTLY what you have. I found it a bit daunting to determine the rim model on my existing rim.

I finished reading the Bicycle Wheel last night, as Al said, it is by Jobst Brandt. The reviews on Amazon said that this is "the definitive" book on wheel building and my LBS said the same thing. It is not a large book, but it is largely academic, with more equations and scientific data than you'll probably need. You might benefit from it since you are on a quest to build the strongest possible wheel.