DIY Wheel Jig

Has anyone made a DIY wheel jig? or know of any good websites on how to build one?

I've got a collection of wheels that need building and cant bring myself to spank out the cash on a new one…

Every bike has a front and rear wheel jig built into it.

It would be nice to have something that could be desk mounted with pins to make sure its centered etc

Wheelpro £9 for the book PDF. Details jig, truing guides and tools DIY building also full instructions on how to build wheels.

I made mine at school for my CDT project, used legs from broken tables. Also made a dishing stick. Instead of pins, I used a bit of tube that cups the axle. Only down side is that I need to put the old axle in when I true my bolt throughs

Just find an old steel fork with v brake studs. Get some old v or canti arms, take out the pads and springs, bolt them up tight so they move only when you push them hard, and away you go. You'll need to find a way to spread the fork blades apart for doing back wheels though (I used my bench vice to force them apart, but you could use a small scissor jack, a hydraulic ram, some long bits of scaffold pole or the power of Greyskull). Having one for front and one for rear saves a lot of hassle re-bending the blades too.

+1 for the roger musson book.

i felt kinda OCD while building the jig, but it has been used countless times since then and it works great.

stan.

Cheers, I'll check out the wheelpro book. I feel like an OCD project!

After buying Rogers book and having a slow day in work I knocked these out…

Both are adjustable for front and rear wheels and the spoke tool spins in the handle without falling out. 😀

I've done seven or eright wheels using the desiogn in the wheelpro book and its great: I just use a rear skewer for bolt through axles. After painstakingly checking the alignment of the 'jaws' i later realised it doens't matter all that much as its just a way of fixing a point to spin the rim against and see if it moves in and out or not.

In the book Roger reccommends wood as it 'rings' when you pluck the spokes: I made mine of MDF and stand it on a big wooden table on a wooden floor and it certainly is easy to hear the differences in tone on the spokes. Also I made my alignment 'bits' (that you sight the rim against) out of fibreboard painted black to stand out. The unexpected advantage of this being that when the rim gets so close its hard to see it moving in and out a qharter of a mil, then you can hear it rubbing/ringing against it (like a wet finger on a wine glass).

I did get a proper dishing tool though: that is slightly easier to use then the corrugated card one in the book.

julianwilson – have you got a picture of the jig you built?

Hip – that looks like one serious bit of kit, how have you found using it?

..not right this moment I haven't. Its a bit like the metal one above (which would seem to have been done looking at the same plans as mine) but mine is made of 18mm MDF painted white so you can see better against it.

Just buy the wheelpro book, honestly it is one of the best value bike things I have ever bought.

Spudster 1 – Member

Hip – that looks like one serious bit of kit, how have you found using it?

As it's the only jig I have used I have no frame of reference but I like it. It's pretty heavy (Made from offcuts out of the works scrap bin) so it doesn't wobble and holds the hub firmly. I use a 8x8x15cm piece of hardwood as a visual lateral and radial truing guide, it sits fine on the flat base. I may slap some white paint on the base to aid in sighting trueness as my workshop isn't the brightest. Spokes seem to 'ring' well too, probably due to the securely fixed hub. I use some old QR skewers to hold the hub in the drop outs (drop ins?)

All in all it's a lot easier than trying to do it all on an upturned bike… 🙂

julianwilson – Member

which would seem to have been done looking at the same plans as mine

Yup! My interpretation of Rogers design. Fantastic book!