For all you wheel builders on a budget.
Once you've got your wheel laced up, it's time to true it.
There seems to be a trend towards using dial indicators for this purpose, but I prefer to use a simpler approach, just a simple pointer. The end result is exactly the same - a trued wheel. I know that there are a lot of balancing/truing stands similar to the one in my pic. They are real simple to build, all you need is a base, two legs, some bearings, and a few bolts and nuts. Then, what you need is a simple way to hold your truing indicator in place. I got tired of clamping a make-shift arm in place, so . . . I wanted something simple, solid, and adjustable; plus I wanted to able to get it out of my way easily if I was using the stand for something other than truing. I prefer to true to the bead seat so here's what I came up with, a simple truing gizmo -
It couldn't be much simpler, a piece of 3/8" all-thread (about 18" long) with two offset bends, a support plate for the pointer (short piece of tube welded to a scrap of sheet steel), and some 3/8" nuts and washers. The pointer is a scrap of steel with the point high-lighted with a little red paint for easy visibility. Drill a 3/8" hole through one of the stand's legs, and bolt the arm on. You can easily adjust the truing gizmo to match the wheel diameter (by adjusting the amount of extension with the nuts) or wheel width (by swinging the arm up or down).
Geo.