Dial-gauge bicycle wheel building stand for $100

[Jasper Janssen]

On 14 Dec 2005 15:25:47 -0800, [email protected] wrote:

>does the dial gauge suffer from the drag? or TPIAW, do gauges wear out
>from this rotating "abuse"?

It's not abuse, dial gauges are routinely used to move along surfaces. The
reason for the wooden dowel is that the dial gauge would scratch the rim,
not to save the gauge.

I suspect that in the really high-volume applications they'd use a
precision ball bearing, but I very much doubt even an LBS would be able to
wear out this $13 gauge, and if they do, they've made enough profit to
afford a new one.


Jasper

 

[sceptborg]

[email protected] wrote:

> 0.02mm is less than 1/1000 of an inch. Are you sure you don't mean
> 0.2mm?
>
> Chuck

My dial gauge has 0.01mm divisions.
I have often got rims to +- 0 .02mm.
The remaining variation is usually where a grain of sand has scored the
rim.
Not much point in achieving this tho as just stress relieving, unbolting
or checking at a different diameter of the rim sends it off.
It just a bit hypnotic and good relaxation if you are
obsessive/compulsive.

Rob

 

[Antonio]

where may we see this stand

 

[[email protected]]

is that the procedure? roll the rim on the gauge not push the gauge in
and roll to next spoke and allow gauge to recontact and on?
i smell a rat on rolling a rim over a $13 gauge.
never used a gauge but watching the film here i will move toward
getting a cable clamp and erecting a credit card sensor free of the
frame proper. duh.
as a commuter/tourer not a racer-rim lumps are the problem to hurdell
not closing in on rim perfection-how does a tourer/ commuter come by a
near perfect dent free rim? mirabile!
after synthetic goose down, a good rim tool comes in a close 4th or
6th.
ah, i can always dial gauge inbewteen the lumps!
anyways-closing in on a perfect rim doesn't beam one up after crossing
a tolerance threshold

 

[[email protected]]

The purpose of the dowel on the end of the dial gauge is twofold. It
prevents the annoying sound of metal-on-metal when you rotate the wheel
against the gauge. It also prevents the gauge from slipping off the
edge of the rim when checking out-of-round measurements.

Chuck Connell

 

[daveornee]

I thought this group might be interested in this article I just
wrote...

This article describes how to assemble an inexpensive, but very
accurate, wheel building stand for bicycles. The stand uses a dial
gauge indicator that is accurate to 1/1000th of an inch, but the
complete stand can be finished for about $100. The low price is
achieved by using inexpensive options for the primary parts: the
overall platform of the tool, the wheel holding mechanism, the dial
gauge, and the magnetic base for the gauge.

With some practice, you can build or adjust wheels to within +/- .005
inches, for both roundness and trueness. Wheels with this accuracy ride
nicely. With good wheel parts, and a little luck, you can create a
wheel that is +/- .002 inches, in both measurements. These finished
wheels are so straight that the rims look like a mirror when you spin
them. Because this tool is so inexpensive, I recommend it for use even
if you are only purchasing wheels. For example, a racing team might use
it to check that all wheels they buy are within +/- .004, and then
discard any used wheels that are worse than +/- .010 out of round or
true.

Full article, with parts list, photos, etc, is here:
http://www.chc-3.com/pub/wheel_stand.htm

Chuck Connell

When you have a wheel with that roundness and trueness, what is the tension balance?
What is the increase in durability?

 

[[email protected]]

Dave Ornee writes:

>> I thought this group might be interested in this article I just
>> wrote...

>> This article describes how to assemble an inexpensive, but very
>> accurate, wheel building stand for bicycles. The stand uses a dial
>> gauge indicator that is accurate to 1/1000th of an inch, but the
>> complete stand can be finished for about $100. The low price is
>> achieved by using inexpensive options for the primary parts: the
>> overall platform of the tool, the wheel holding mechanism, the dial
>> gauge, and the magnetic base for the gauge.

>> With some practice, you can build or adjust wheels to within +/-
>> .005 inches, for both roundness and trueness. Wheels with this
>> accuracy ride nicely. With good wheel parts, and a little luck,
>> you can create a wheel that is +/- .002 inches, in both
>> measurements. These finished wheels are so straight that the rims
>> look like a mirror when you spin them. Because this tool is so
>> inexpensive, I recommend it for use even if you are only purchasing
>> wheels.

>> For example, a racing team might use it to check that all wheels
>> they buy are within +/- .004, and then discard any used wheels that
>> are worse than +/- .010 out of round or true. Full article, with
>> parts list, photos, etc, is here:

http://www.chc-3.com/pub/wheel_stand.htm

> When you have a wheel with that roundness and trueness, what is the
> tension balance? What is the increase in durability?

Well that's a double problem. Assuming the wheel is new and tension
is not uniform, there are two effects at work. The average tension is
fairly uniform or the wheel would have wobbles but adjacent spokes in,
typically a 36-spoke wheel, can be over and under tensioned from where
they ought to be and the wheel will still be true. However, if the
wheel is suitably tensioned (high enough) than even these
discrepancies will cause misalignment.

In contrast a used rim that was knocked out of true and was re-trued
just by adjusting tension can have poorly balanced tension. In both
cases, riding the wheel will bring it out of true.

Therefore, balancing tension is important for reliability and to get
it a used wheel must be manually bent laterally to get there. Just
truing it with spoke tension is not good enough. I think the use of
terms must be done with some allowance. Durability, in part, means
whether the wheel will stay rue, rather than whether spokes will fail
or the rim crack. Of course material failure is another measure of
durability.

Jobst Brandt

 

[Qui si parla Campagnolo]

[email protected] wrote:
> I thought this group might be interested in this article I just
> wrote...
>
> This article describes how to assemble an inexpensive, but very
> accurate, wheel building stand for bicycles. The stand uses a dial
> gauge indicator that is accurate to 1/1000th of an inch, but the
> complete stand can be finished for about $100. The low price is
> achieved by using inexpensive options for the primary parts: the
> overall platform of the tool, the wheel holding mechanism, the dial
> gauge, and the magnetic base for the gauge.
>
> With some practice, you can build or adjust wheels to within +/- .005
> inches, for both roundness and trueness. Wheels with this accuracy ride
> nicely. With good wheel parts, and a little luck, you can create a
> wheel that is +/- .002 inches, in both measurements. These finished
> wheels are so straight that the rims look like a mirror when you spin
> them. Because this tool is so inexpensive, I recommend it for use even
> if you are only purchasing wheels. For example, a racing team might use
> it to check that all wheels they buy are within +/- .004, and then
> discard any used wheels that are worse than +/- .010 out of round or
> true.
>
> Full article, with parts list, photos, etc, is here:
> http://www.chc-3.com/pub/wheel_stand.htm
>
> Chuck Connell

Nice idea but I'm like Andy in that stiffness, rigidity of holding the
wheel is more important and I think dial gauges don't necessarily make
for a better wheel. A park TS-2 and I can get the wheel easily w/i .1mm
or so...but ya know as soon as you ride it, even a very well built
wheel, it will govary a wee bit. Tolerances in the stand are not nearly
as important as an overall reliable wheel. One that doesn't need to be
mucked with for miles and miles.