Spoke tension - what is a good value to aim for?

[SKPC]

If just one spoke is busted, put the new one in and 1st tension it to about the same(by feel) as the others around it. Put the wheel in the dropout in your upside down bike, and while holding a little screwdriver close to the rim, spin the wheel and where the rim hits the screwdriver, loosen the nipple on the side of the hub where it hits the screwdriver, or tighten the nipple(s) on the other side, which will pull the rim back the other direction.
Impossible for us to know what your spoke tensions are currently, or what spokes are loose and which are tight, but generally it is a good idea to grab two spokes between your fingers and just flex them by feel all the way around(both sides). You may notice some are looser or tighter than others, maybe not. If some feel too loose, tighten them a 1/2 turn to more closely match the feel of the others, then do the screwdriver thing again...this should work for you.
If you are starting over, see @cyclingday 's very clear and happ'nin post above. It takes practice and patience for sure.
IMO, when it comes to building or trueing wheels, your mind is far superior to anything else you think might help you......

 

[Octavius]

TR6SC, this stand was $38 - plastic axle holders. Not really suitable for determining dish. So I went ahead and made this wooden one:

Doesn't take any time at all to make - especially if you have a bandsaw. Works great, as well.

SKPC, thanks for the reply. I'm more comfortable measuring as I go - probably, as I get more experience the feel/sound of the spokes might tell me something.

This tensioning gauge from Park Tool is well made and I'm very pleased with it.

The tension was all other the place on this wheel when I first got it - I could actually undo one spoke by hand!

I used cyclingday's method to true it up but using the gauge rather than going by the sound of the spokes. Worked great. I got within the range specified in pedal4416's post and the spoke tension is fairly uniform for all spokes.

The radial runout is now between less than 1/16" (0.044"), as is the dish (0.045), and the lateral runout is less than 1/32" (0.020"). I'm thinking this is good enough for a 50 year old Schwinn wheel.

The whole experience was a bit frustrating at first but became very satisfying when I got into the swing of things.

Cheers!