Originally Posted by cavit8
Another site:
http://spokeanwheel.stormpages.com/
Having gone this route myself, I wouldnt' recommend buying a stand etc and doing it yourself unless you want to do it for fun and don't care how many wheels you build or plan to build lots of wheels. At about $35-40 for labour for a build, it's likely more economical just to buy the wheel premade. It's also pretty slow the first time 'round.
It is fun though, and kind of neat to be riding on a wheel you built yourself. My LBS checked out my first build for me after I'd done it and didn't have to lay a wrench to it. Never mind that it took me about four starts...
No offense, but you folks portray wheelbuilding as harder than it really is. I followed Sheldon's instructions and there was not much to it. There are caclulators to accurately compute the spoke length, and then all you do is follow instructions, step by step. It requires patience to screw down all the spokes and true the wheels, but that is just grunt work you repeat again and again. In the whole process you are not required to make any significant independent decisions. Everything is already figured out by someone and written down. I am not saying it is a piece-of-cake (and I can very well imagine anyone, including myself not interpreting things correctly for the first time), but I think it is a straighforward process and there is little avenue to screw up if you follow the instructions, and most screwups are reversible.