knocking together a wheel truing stand, one or two struts

[Dr pepper]

I want to throw together a sturdy truing stand from some angle iron.
The idea I have is to have just one upright that the hub clamps to, or bolts depending what the hub is, and have the vertical upright 'unplug' from the base.
Then building a wheel and lacing spokes with it in the stand might be possible.
Some sort of indicator can clamp itself to the upright for final truing.
Does this sound a good idea or a non starter.

 

[ianrauk]

@Trickedem made his own wheel truing stand.

 

[Way-Out-West]

I think just a single upright wouldn’t be sturdy enough and would accentuate any bearing play coming from the hub. Lacing the spokes is much easier away from a stand.
I made a wheelbuilding stand using a turbo trainer as the stand and bolt an adjustable guide rail (which I made) to the turbo when needed and removable when not. Works well.
At a pinch you can build wheels in the bike rear triangle or forks.

 

[FrankCrank]

Here's mine, made from a few scrags lying about the place

 

[Drago]

Here's mine, made from a few scrags lying about the place
View attachment 790745

Is that an old style petrol pump in your kitchen?

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Is that an old style petrol pump in your kitchen?

It's a fridge, I remember that style.
Well, when I was young and lived abroad.
You must have had similar in the UK?

 

[Gunk]

Old pair of steel forks in a vice with a cable tie is the easiest method

 

[88robb]

I want to throw together a sturdy truing stand from some angle iron.
The idea I have is to have just one upright that the hub clamps to, or bolts depending what the hub is, and have the vertical upright 'unplug' from the base.
Then building a wheel and lacing spokes with it in the stand might be possible.
Some sort of indicator can clamp itself to the upright for final truing.
Does this sound a good idea or a non starter.

That's a solid plan and a classic DIY approach. A single upright strut is all you really need.

The key is making sure your hub clamping method is absolutely solid and centered. Any play there will make truing impossible.

For the indicators, use two zip ties around the strut as your fixed reference points. Trim the ends and you've got perfect, adjustable gauges for both lateral and radial truing.