MTFCA Forum

I am ready to respoke the wheels on my 24 roadster(21 inch rim). I have read all the posts and videos on how to use the regan press and i feel confident on the process. The only thing not mentioned in the posts or the videos is how do you know when to stop pressing on the spokes. There are mentions that when the nearing compltion the pressure used is reduced but not when to stop. Is there a way to measure from the rim top to the spokes or is it just "looks right".
I would appreciate any information on how to determine when to stop pressing.

George,
I changed the concept a little by adding a flat table on top of it. During the wheel assembly I press till the spokes are flat with the table.

Good luck
Andre
Belgium

Weren't some T wooden wheels "dished" slightly?

Very, very early wheels were dished. Long, long gone by the time demountables were introduced.

Press until it looks right. There is no good reason to go "past flat" any however. Any little fine tuning will be done automatically when you tighten up the 6 hub bolts. That will draw the spokes up firm against the face of the hub flange.

I like andres suggestion of having a flat board under the wheel. Has anyone else tried this method?

I've had good luck with a pusher plate about 8" in diameter in a hydraulic press. The plate with a hub bored out to fasten to the stub underneath the hydraulic cylinder keeps everything flat. I know not everyone has a press, but maybe your buddy does!

I needed to press only one wheel back together after changing out a bad spoke and came up with a very simple design that worked just fine for me.
The pictures are out of sequence, but I think the idea comes across.