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lacing wheels

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well i learned how to spoke a wheel today by a friend of mine that used to work for schwinn back in the 50's, he showed me how to true them and spoke them. so now all I have to do is practice on all the wheels i have and i'll have it down pretty good.
Monark.., how’s the lacing coming!!!! Let us know and explain a bit how to do it!!!
 
I was taught the art of wheel building in the early 70's by a retired gentleman (Dick Wagoner) who rebuilt wheels for our bicycle shop as a hobby. I was just starting out in the bicycle retail business after working in a large bicycle rental operation. After working at the shop for a few months I convinced him to teach me and in return I would not cut him out of the wheel builds we sent to him but I would just build my own and for friends. Although he taught me the fundamentals, he too, experienced difficulties in getting the valve stem hole placement correct every time - it was a hit or miss result and he never figured it out.

I was determined to solve the problem and after a month or so of tearing down wheels and comparing the different spoke hole/valve stem placements and hub/spoke orientations I figured it out. I was very proud of this and in turn taught my teacher who was impressed and pleased.

As it turns out, my method is also the "Schwinn" method which involves filling the hub completely with spokes before threading any nipples. Reading the "hand" of the rim (left hand vs. right hand) determines the placement of the second spoke to be inserted in the hub and this is the key to successfully having the valve hole being properly placed upon completion.

The second key is determining how you want the courses of spokes (those inside the hub flange vs spokes on the outside) to be oriented. Back then there were all kinds of shop theory such as the rear wheel having both courses of inside spokes "pulling" in the same direction, etc. The only placement that made sense to me was to have the freewheel side inside spokes pulling in case of the chain jamming between the low gear cog and spokes. If it wiped out spokes it would "static" spokes and not the pulling ones. That theory was probably BS as well but that was life in the bike shops where Jobst Brandt was God...

Once you understand these techniques the method is same for 2x, 3x, or 4x cross patterns and it works every time. If there is interest I will post up some diagrams/pics to help folks understand these concepts. Once you have mastered the method of filling the hub and lacing it properly you can then proceed to learn the finer arts of building strong and reliable wheels.
 
I find that is absolutely true - that the placement of the second spoke after the key spoke will set up the valve hole spoke positioning on the 36-hole Schwinn 3 speed bikes. Though I will say I work in the four families of 9 (Sheldon Brown's way) rather than dropping all spokes in the hub at once. I'm sure it's a little slower, but it has worked for me. I keep a "reference" set of original wheels around in case I lose track or need a refresher. I add rim washers to all nipples. I add brass spoke washers where possible (not always possible if you're doing 36 cross four on a small flange front hub though).
 
The BEST wheelbuilding instruction, ever.

After a frustrating go at it using the old Eugene Sloan book, and ending up with a partially-built sputnik instead of a wheel, I saw this in a then-new issue of Bicycling! (still w the exclamation mark) magazine. Even though the author is an industry expert, it's straightforward and easy to follow. Yes, it even has 'right hand' and 'left hand' rims.

I taught many young mechanics using this method over the years, and had copies of this in every mechanics' reference notebook. Print it out and keep it handy, you'll be glad you did!


 
I find that is absolutely true - that the placement of the second spoke after the key spoke will set up the valve hole spoke positioning on the 36-hole Schwinn 3 speed bikes. Though I will say I work in the four families of 9 (Sheldon Brown's way) rather than dropping all spokes in the hub at once. I'm sure it's a little slower, but it has worked for me. I keep a "reference" set of original wheels around in case I lose track or need a refresher. I add rim washers to all nipples. I add brass spoke washers where possible (not always possible if you're doing 36 cross four on a small flange front hub though).
My way is fool proof, no issues placing the second key spoke. I have a method for counting second side empty spoke holes clockwise or counterclockwise, depending on if the rim holes are drilled up or down clockwise from the valve hole. This locates the second key spoke. This stupid CABE site won’t let me post consecutive photos for a photo essay. I tried. I also have a foolproof method for correcting a wrongly spokes rim without total disassembly. I build wheels pretty regularly since the 80s. Non of the online methods or my old books make sense to me anymore. I’m 77 and now I get confused trying to follow various tutorials. I started experimenting and came up with my own simple way. In the last two months I’ve built 4 wood wheels, 32 and 36 spokes and two steel rimed wheels. I’ve built radial, two cross, 3, and 4 cross wheels. I’m currently rebuilding, with new spokes, the rims from my 50s Columbia springer. I’ve probably built close to 100 wheels, but if you don’t build them more regularly than I do you need some guidance. I’m looking for a set of 26 x 1 3/8 used rims from a junk bike so I can rebuild my Ross. The Ross spokes are rusted beyond salvage.
 
It's WAY EASIER to drop all of the spokes into the hub first. Especially, when your lacing up painted rims to avoid scratches. The Schwinn Service School "always taught wheel building by dropping all of the spokes into the hub". You fan them in one hand and fill the hub with spokes.

Second, you need to take a close look at the two flanges on any hub. The spoke holes in one flange do not align with the flange on the other side. The importance of this is you need to match the direction of the rim drilling to the offset of the holes in the flanges. If you skip this step, you will end up with the spokes crossing over the valve stem making it difficult to add air to the tire. It's easier to see this offset in the hubs that have larger flanges. The spokes on each side of the air valve stem should be parallel.

Not all brands of rims have the same drilling offset. You have to match the lacing to what ever rim drill pattern you have in front of you and not do the lacing "by the book" every time. Getting the hub filled correctly to match the rim drilling is THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP.

We used two different length spokes in the right and left side of the rear "freewheel" wheels. (helps when using a drill for pull up)

There's lots of tricks that you can use during the nipple pull up step to speed your wheel building. But you have to get it laced correctly first.

John
 
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It's WAY EASIER to drop all of the spokes into the hub first. Especially, when your lacing up painted rims to avoid scratches. The Schwinn Service School "always taught wheel building by dropping all of the spokes into the hub". You fan them in one hand and fill the hub with spokes.

Second, you need to take a close look at the two flanges on any hub. The spoke holes in one flange do not align with the flange on the other side. The importance of this is you need to match the direction of the rim drilling to the offset of the holes in the flanges. If you skip this step, you will end up with the spokes crossing over the valve stem making it difficult to add air to the tire. It's easier to see this offset in the hubs that have larger flanges. The spokes on each side of the air valve stem should be parallel.

Not all brands of rims have the same drilling offset. You have to match the lacing to what ever rim drill pattern you have in front of you and not do the lacing "by the book" every time. Getting the hub filled correctly to match the rim drilling is THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP.

We used two different length spokes in the right and left side of the rear "freewheel" wheels. (helps when using a drill for pull up)

There's lots of tricks that you can use during the nipple pull up step to speed your wheel building. But you have to get it laced correctly first.

John
My old 1970s wheel building book uses this method. I started out building this way. Instead of holding the spokes in my hand I somehow bound them, don’t remember how now. This method now confuses my 77 year old brain, too complicated. I put my thumb or pointer finger over the spoke ends so I don’t scratch. I’ve never scratched a wood or painted rim because I cover the tips with a finger. It has to be as simple as possible because I can no longer follow written directions or follow a video. It’s been about 3 years since I started having trouble and now I can’t follow any video, it’s always a wrong spoking because I screw up. I’ve developed an idiot proof method, but there are probably better idiots than myself out there who could not follow my method. It’s not particularly fast, probably takes me 15 minutes to spoke a rim.
 
I would strongly advise new wheelbuilders not to drop all spokes in a hub to start, or to even think about anything that might speed up the process.

We often forget that for most home mechanics, it's a very intimidating job. Keeping 8 or 9 spokes at a time from getting in your way while you puzzle over what you're doing is less frustrating than dealing with dozens. Especially while you look back and forth from wheel to page or computer screen.

Turn off the phone. ;)

The correct starting point. Simple, repeatable steps in building. Consistent, repeatable layers in truing and tensioning. The core of the old Hjertberg Bicycling! article.

Once you've become comfortable building wheels, then you may want to add your own touches to improve efficiency- or you might not. There's no hurry for the hobbyist, and honestly, handbuilding conventional wheels is so rare in modern shops there's barely any reason for most mechanics to worry about it beyond being organized and having a simple manual nipple driver handy.
 
I would strongly advise new wheelbuilders not to drop all spokes in a hub to start, or to even think about anything that might speed up the process.

We often forget that for most home mechanics, it's a very intimidating job. Keeping 8 or 9 spokes at a time from getting in your way while you puzzle over what you're doing is less frustrating than dealing with dozens. Especially while you look back and forth from wheel to page or computer screen.

Turn off the phone. ;)

The correct starting point. Simple, repeatable steps in building. Consistent, repeatable layers in truing and tensioning. The core of the old Hjertberg Bicycling! article.

Once you've become comfortable building wheels, then you may want to add your own touches to improve efficiency- or you might not. There's no hurry for the hobbyist, and honestly, handbuilding conventional wheels is so rare in modern shops there's barely any reason for most mechanics to worry about it beyond being organized and having a simple manual nipple driver handy.
The reason I suggest dropping all of the spokes in the hub is because when building 4 cross on a small flange hub the spoke heads overlap the other spokes. It's even a bigger issue when your building 105 gauge, or 120-gauge wheels.

The best way............is always the way that works FOR YOU. LOL
John
 
once u start the 1rst 2 spokes,just put a spoke in the 4th hole on ine side just flop it over and pur the rest in,the first 2 are the ones to get right,the rest is ez
 
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