AlmostTrick

I made this recently out of leftover materials I had lying around.

One section of 1 1/2" perforated angle steel (26 inches long)
Two 5" sections of 2x4
4 wood screws with washers
3/8" threaded rod with washers and lock nuts

Easily adjustable for different size wheels.

Show us your homemade wheel dishing gauge!

Andrew R Stewart 

Three stand offs support the rim above the bench top. Could be any stack of coins or other bits. Center stand off to the lock nut, again could be anything but allowing for height adjustment. Third shot is my wheel corner with a bunch of real tools. Andy

aggiegrads

Andrew R Stewart Do you like your reference block setup better than the Var?

Dwillems26

Haven't heard of wheel dishing. Please explain this to me? Can be a short explanation, and if I feel the need to do it I'll search for more in depth.

Much obliged

desconhecido 

Here's a dishing tool I made from a scrap piece of maple veneered plywood, a couple bits of aluminum, a brass rod that I threaded and a couple pieces of scrap cherry turned on the lathe. Compared to stuff I usually try to fabricate, it worked out really well in that it functions as designed.

To answer Dwillems26's question, the purpose of the dishing too is to check how well the rim is centered on the hub. If you look at the photo below you will see, barely, that the center probe of the tool locates the lock nut that will contact the inside of the dropout on one side. Turn the wheel over and check the position of the probe with the corresponding locknut on that side. If the probe contacts each locknut just the same, the rim is centered. If you have good contact on one side and a gap on the other, adjustment is in order to center the rim. Assuming that the difference between the probe and the locknuts is significant. There are rules to determine how much the rim needs to be moved, usually by either direct measurement of the gap of the probe or by setting it up so that the probe is perfect on one side but the tool rocks on the other. Measured "rock" at the rim is twice the amount of adjustment necessary, I think. My practice is to start checking dish when the spokes start getting to acceptable tension and then finish up tension while adjucting the dish. If care is taken along the way, dish adjustment on a finished wheel is usually pretty minor and can be adjust during the processes of final truing and tensioning. Probably Park tool has a better explanation along with demos of the use of their tool.

JohnDThompson 

Briefly, the sprocket cluster on one side of the rear hub requires that the drive side rear hub flange be offset inward to provide clearance for the sprockets. So, when you build the wheel, the rim needs to be centered with respect to the hub centerline, not the midpoint between the hub flanges.

Andrew R Stewart 

No, why would I chose to use a clumsy method when the industry standard is within an arm's reach? My photos are for all those out in forum land who don't have a proper dishing tool but do have a table and can find household bits to use as the stand offs. Andy

rseeker

I did it with two soda cans (Kroger orange, if you must know) at the rim plus a pill bottle and small stack of coins to probe the hub. It worked well for my starter bike but I'm on to a "real" bike now and prefer submillimeter precision. I need to buy the tool.

Dwillems26

Thanks for explaining it. Don't think I'll ever build a wheel, but I did contemplate it for a day lol. It's still good info to know. Y'all impress me!

andrewclaus

Great idea for a thread! I've always been into recycling scrap and getting by with minimal purchases. You don't have to spend much to put together a workable home bike shop.

Mine is close enough to the OP's that I won't waste time posting a photo. Mine uses a section of old bed frame because that's what was in the scrap pile at the time.

gilesa

berner

I approve of clever home made stuff.

Imightbewrong

Very impressive to make it yourself.

This tool can be used not only when building your own wheel but also when re-aligning it again? (E.g. when there is a wiggle in the wheel - not sure what this is called in English)

AlmostTrick

Yes, if the wheel comes out of true you could use the tool to check for proper center as you re-true it. Often, any minor truing would not require it, but hey, if you have it might as well use it.

LarryBSky

I use a leftover cabinet toe kick board and a cheap depth gauge from Amazon.

jccaclimber

A US dime is around 1.35 mm thick. You should be able to visually interpolate half the thickness of a dime (or stack one between the rim and orange soda can at one side and use a full dime), and you’re sub mm already. Half that when you consider that flipping the wheel doubles single direction deviation from center.

This varies a bit from others’ opinions, but IMO this is a case where the increased accuracy of a formal tool isn’t really significant over that of the DIY method. What is significant is the ease of use, but that’s more about how frequently you use the tool, not about the quality of work you can do.

I normally just flip in the stand, but past that I use whatever flat surface and pile of blocks is nearby. While unnecessary, I’m willing to bet that with a pack of post-it notes, a pair of coffee mugs, and some pocket change I can get wheel dish error under 50 microns of true centerline. Your wheel probably isn’t that true as it rotates, and if we include the seam your rim might not even be that consistent in thickness.