Seating and Stress Relieving the Spokes

I am building a rear wheel and considering trying Sheldon's (RIP)
technique for stress relieving (see the section on this at
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html) spokes. I have a spare,
old left crank arm. But I am wondering how much force/pressure to use.
Obviously, this technique cannot be calibrated but I am looking for the
experience of others who have done this. Or maybe others have
alternatives... Thanks.

On Mar 10, 12:16 pm, David White wrote:
I am building a rear wheel and considering trying Sheldon's (RIP)
technique for stress relieving (see the section on this at
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html) spokes. I have a spare,
old left crank arm. But I am wondering how much force/pressure to use.
Obviously, this technique cannot be calibrated but I am looking for the
experience of others who have done this. Or maybe others have
alternatives... Thanks.

I remove the QR and place the axle on a block of wood and lean on the
rim till the spoke heads seat, working my way around. It's faster.
Don't use so much pressure as to taco the thing.

/puts on nomex underbritches

David White Wrote:
I am building a rear wheel and considering trying Sheldon's (RIP)
technique for stress relieving (see the section on this at
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html) spokes. I have a spare,
old left crank arm. But I am wondering how much force/pressure to use.
Obviously, this technique cannot be calibrated but I am looking for
the
experience of others who have done this. Or maybe others have
alternatives... Thanks.
The goal is to make sure the spokes are seated and aligned as good as
possible. You want to add significan additional tension in each of the
two crossing spokes without plastically deforming them (leaving bends
in them approximating the shape of the crank). If you look at Sheldon't
picture you will see just about how far you should go.
Measure the spoke tension before you do it. Afterward measure again.
If there was further seating and aligning the spoke tension will go
down. I use a modified version of Sheldon's approach and I do it in
several passes, measuring the resulting changes in spoke tension after
each pass.... and bringing it back up to 100 kgf each time... until a
pass no longer makes any change.
I then use the method that landotter suggest to further stabilize the
wheel and check it for true, tension, and centering each pass again
until there is no longer any change and the wheel is true, centered, and
has good spoke tension balance and proper tension level as per the
manufacturer's specification.


--
daveornee

On Mar 10, 5:40 pm, still just me wrote:
On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:29:36 -0700 (PDT), landotter

wrote:
I remove the QR and place the axle on a block of wood and lean on the
rim till the spoke heads seat, working my way around. It's faster.
Don't use so much pressure as to taco the thing.

Aren't the spoke heads already seated? Do you push the rim enough to
cause a "bounce and return" ?

I push the rim enough so the spoke head pulls flat against the flange.
Works for me. I am not a professional, your miles may vary, texture
may change from lot to lot.

still just me wrote:
On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:29:36 -0700 (PDT), landotter
wrote:

I remove the QR and place the axle on a block of wood and lean on the
rim till the spoke heads seat, working my way around. It's faster.
Don't use so much pressure as to taco the thing.

Aren't the spoke heads already seated?

you mean the elbow wire into the hub? they seat partially just with
wheel spoke tension, but not fully. as you might expect, increasing
spoke tension above that level seats them further. you want them to be
as fully seated as practicable so they will be as stable as possible and
thus less subject to fatigue bending.


Do you push the rim enough to
cause a "bounce and return" ?

yes.