Wheel building jig

[rmwesley]

A couple of people asked if I could post up some pics and a parts list for my wheel jig. You might be underwhelmed since it is uber-simple to put together. Hopefully pictures speak a thousand words in terms of how it all goes together. Excluding the DTI gauges I think the whole thing cost less than £200.

The frame is made from aluminium profile purchased from motedis.co.uk. The base is 480mm wide by 440mm deep & the vertical posts are 660mm tall. I've built a few jigs and frames for fish tanks etc. and motedis are by far and away the cheapest / easiest company to deal with if you are only buying small amounts.

Parts

Base (front centre): Profile 40x40L I-Type slot 8 (019600 - 400mm)
Base (left and right): Profile 40x40L I-Type slot 8 (019600 - 360mm)
Base (rear centre): Profile 40x80L I-type slot 8 (019603 - 480mm)
Posts: Profile 40x80L I-type slot 8 (019603 - 660mm)
Base brackets: Bracket 40 I-Type slot 8 with fastening set and cover cap (S8IBR40)
Post brackets: Bracket 40x80 I-Type slot 8 with fastening kit and cover cap (S8IBR4080+FS+CC)
Cover caps: Cover Caps 40x80 I-Type slot 8 (091009)
Cover caps: Cover Caps 40x40 I-Type Slot 8 (091007)

Downside is a minimum shipping cost of approx. £15 - £20 for any order, so you can't really afford to miss anything off. I've got bags of nuts, fasteners and brackets & dipped into those for this build, so the list above is probably not exhaustive. If you have a crack yourself, figure out exactly what you need.

The steel base plate is 480mm wide x 400mm deep x 10mm thick plate covered in Hammerite and bolted onto the frame securely. For this you will need the "Roll-in T-Nut I-Type slot 8" fasteners which go into the profile slots. They come in M4, M5, M6 and M8.

More to follow...

 

[rmwesley]

The "cleverest" bit is the adjustable clamping system for the wheel hub. The aluminium back plates provide the vertical movement. They are bolted onto the vertical posts using more of the "Roll-in T-Nut I-Type slot 8" fasteners.

The vertical posts can also be moved wider on the base itself if you are into building fat bike wheels, but I've not needed to do this yet.

The shafts provide the horizontal movement. Very quick and easy to adjust if you are starting a different sized rim. The LHS shafts are shorter and remain semi-fixed. The RHS shafts are longer and are the ones I use to adjust for hub size. The shafts are 16mm precision shafts which can be picked online from various web sites, including motedis. Each shaft has got H8 (I think) holes machined in each end so the brass plates can be bolted onto them.

The brass plates have got "U" shaped slots in one end and and "V" slots in the other end just in case you need to accommodate a variety of weird hub axles.

The shafts are bolted onto the back plate with the black 16mm diameter mounts and wing nuts etc.

I can't remember the exact list of parts but the you should be able to see what is required from the pics.

 

[rmwesley]

Various other bits are then bolted on to make life easier.

To measure dish I added a ruler on another precision shaft which can be slid left <> right. There are also two further "slidable" precisions shafts with brass pointers which I use to measure dish and also to provide reference points for lateral trueness.

The mounts for these shafts are also from motedis. Part number is SH16/SK16. Requires the slot-in nurs and bolts again.

Determining the wheel centre just requires a simple measurement and plumb bob. The original intent was just to get a rough idea of dish, but still remove the wheel to get ultra accurate measurements with a dishing tool. As it turns out the ruler and gauges are just as good as the dishing tool.

There is also a final "slidable" shaft with brass pointer further up one of the vertical posts which is used to measure the lateral trueness of disc rotors. Not shown in the pics though since it is normally removed.

 

[rmwesley]

Add your gauge of choice and off you go. The DTI were a bit of a luxury but allow you to get unfeasibly accurate measurements. The roller tips were from Centrimaster. Don't forget to get ones with on/off magnetic bases.

Thank you.

 

[pw_pw_la]

Massive yes!

 

[BerthaPog]

Oh my.

 

[Frankenorange]

Lovely stuff!

 

[Woz]

I can't resist to post the complete antithesis in every single way to your set-up:

- The jig made a bit hastily; one nut and bolt through the chain-stay, trimmed so it would go in the bench vice.
- The wheel is of unknown size and steel. Some persuasion was needed to squash the stays for the front wheel.
- WD40 sprayed all over the rim in a vain attempt to loosen the spoke nipples and stop the spokes snapping. A bit messy.
- The precision gauges
a) the sweet sounds of steel to steel screeching and scraping, the soundtrack to a David Lynch film.
b) my good naked eye in poor light.
c) a fair few drinks to help follow the wobbles.

 

[rmwesley]

I can't resist to post the complete antithesis in every single way to your set-up:

- The jig made a bit hastily; one nut and bolt through the chain-stay, trimmed so it would go in the bench vice.
- The wheel is of unknown size and steel. Some persuasion was needed to squash the stays for the front wheel.
- WD40 sprayed all over the rim in a vain attempt to loosen the spoke nipples and stop the spokes snapping. A bit messy.
- The precision gauges
a) the sweet sounds of steel to steel screeching and scraping, the soundtrack to a David Lynch film.
b) my good naked eye in poor light.
c) a fair few drinks to help follow the wobbles.

Love it The world would be a very dull place if it looked like my workshop. Although I think we may well have a common interest in c)

 

[Nob]

Luxury