I recently rebuilt the back wheel on my bike, which had been breaking the odd spoke and getting more & more out of true.
Spoke wrenches are so tedious when one’s fingers don’t fit in between the spokes like they should. I figured, hey, if the pros can use power drivers, so can I…
Dug a goobered #2 Philips bit out of the ziplock baggie labeled “NFG Bits” and applied it to the bench grinder. The strip of tape on one flat makes turn-counting easy enough that I can actually get it right. It’s not hardened, so it probably won’t last for more than a few wheels, but this is the first scratch-built wheel I’ve done in decades and that baggie is nowhere near empty.
I read through Jobst Brandt’s The Bicycle Wheel to get prepped for the job, removed the old spokes, laced up the new ones, lubed the threads & rim washers, and the wheel trued up almost perfectly just by counting turns.
Did the spoke aligning & stress-relieving tricks, applied some final tweaking, and it’s perfect!
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 