Dishing Tool

I had a salesman at a newer LBS trying to sell me a dishing tool. I have never used one and never needed to. My truing stand self centers on the hub bearing locknuts, not on the flanges, so when I build a rear wheel I just adjust and true the rim to be in the center of the truing stand. I have never had a problem with this. Now this salesman tells me that I am doing it wrong without a dishing tool. I don't even know how to use a dishing tool so I don't know if he is correct or not. Is my current method OK or do I really need a dishing tool to get the rear wheels correctly dished? As I said, I have never had a problem with the dish of a wheel when I build one, as far as I know.

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One life, one chance. Don't waste it!

IMO, you don't need a dishing tool UNLESS you are building wheels with someone else & they are using your truing stand, or vice-versa ...

Picture is worth a thousand words:

http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=82

You will get the picture(s) and thousand (or so) words, both better than I can give. However, it sounds like you were doing it right from the start. I like my dishing tool, even though I have a TS-2 + centering gauge. I find the dish tool easy to use and quite fast.

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David Ornee, Western Springs, IL USA

Well you aren't doing it 'wrong' when the goal is to center the rim between the axle ends and your wheels are that. Even truing stands that center/dish when you use them, like the TS-2, still get unadjusted and ideally you should check the stand with a dishing tool(checking the wheel you built and adjusting the stand, not using the dishing tool on the truing stand) every once in a while. If you have a TS-2, Park makes a centering gauge.

Thanks Alfeng, Dave, and Peter. Now I know exactly what a dishing tool is for and realize that I don't need one. I don't have a Park Trueing Stand but the one that I do have came with a centering gauge so I should be OK. Maybe if I start building wheels for other people I'll reconsider getting one, but for now, as long as my wheels keep coming out good, I'll continue to do what I have been doing.

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One life, one chance. Don't waste it!

That's the goal, good wheels.