Enlarging holes in a 21" rim

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Last night I tried to lace up a 21" DID rim with a dual disc XS hub and got to the last 2 spokes and could not get them. Some spokes line up well and have lots of play while others still have the nipple sticking out of the rim where it looks like they are hanging up. The first course of 9 on each side seems to go just fine, it's when I start running the spokes through the opposite way things start to go bad. I'm pretty sure I'm doing the lacing right so I'm thinking it's the size of the opening that's the problem. Anyone have an insight into this if this is the problem and if so provide a solution? Do I just open the hole slightly more or do I also need to make the angle more severe?
 

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Gary reading that definitely helps a bit and I'm sure I'm making some of those other mistakes, although he already had the holes enlarged which could be part of my problem or I'm just doing it all wrong. I'm not really even sure what the cross pattern is supposed to be given the spoke length and I was using an instructable for a 36 hole bicycle wheel, although I think I at least started going from the right side first.
 
In this pic the circled spokes are not in the corresponding (right) wheel holes. What was the wheel on originally? ie what cross pattern hub size was it? You might need to open up holes but I think you need to adjust the pattern before you start drilling. Looks like you have the whole wheel one hole off? Like LH spokes in RH holes?

21front.jpg



21front.jpg
 
Gary that could definitely be part of the issue. I don't actually know what the rim was off of, I bought it as a wheel, spokes and hub in the classifieds.
Also do you mean by LH spokes in RH holes that the spokes for each are physically different or that the angle of the holes is different, because I put all the spokes in one pile when I started. I'm guessing you mean the spokes need to be switched. This would make more sense to me since my first 2 courses (9 loaded from the front on one side, then 9 loaded from the front on the other side) seemed to line up pretty well. What my one big confusion was where to start from though when I did my very fist set since I essentially have 4 starting points for the angles on the spoke holes on the rim.
I hope this makes sense what I'm trying to say.
 
It looks like you have the spokes in the wheel "one hole off" Note in the pic how the spoke hole in the wheel is angled either left or right of center, that has to match the side of the hub the spoke is coming from. It looks like spokes from the RH side of the hub are going into the the LH wheel holes...... Every time you do the spokes it gets easier, ask how I know...
 
I think there should be inner and out spokes also, half the spokes have a sharper bend at the head, those are the outers.
 
I guess I'll be pulling the wheel apart and try to make 2 piles of spokes again, hopefully its obvious which is which.
 
Look up articles by the Fong Brothers on XS650 chopper. They did a real nice tutorial on wheel lacing. I had never done it before and it was easy with real clear and straight forward instructions.
 
I guess I'll be pulling the wheel apart and try to make 2 piles of spokes again, hopefully its obvious which is which.

when you get the 36 spoke wheel mastered go the 64 spoke wheel with 4 dif spokes
they are fun I have 4 hours in mine and have to redo part of it got 2 long spokes in short holes
 
^^Yeah I won't even attempt that.

I got the spokes resorted, going to do some reading at work today and see if I can figure I few things out. I found out from a buddy that there is an old chopper guy that works at a bicycle shop building wheels that would be up to the task that I might talk to if round 3 doesn't go well.

I just found the Fong Bros article and I think it's dumbed done enough for me to figure out. I think 3 might be he magic number.
Here is the article for future reference.
http://www.xs650chopper.com/2009/12/how-to-lace-a-wheel-from-scratch/
 
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Success! Thanks to Gary for the initial pointers and Ben mentioning the Fong Brothers wheel build walk through. It took me 2 more ties tonight to get it right since I started with the wrong set of spokes for the first 18 before I realized it. The end result though is the wheel is pretty true and shouldn't need a ton of work to get straight.
IMG_20140911_213548863.jpg

IMG_20140911_222245904.jpg
 
Glad I could help. I printed out that article and keep it in my library of tech info. Because I'm old and need to relearn stuff all the time.:D
 
So you are saying that the whole pattern is off by 2 holes? Does this make an actual structural difference or is it just a visual difference? Everything lines up nice and tightens down fine, is it just in one the hub is turned clockwise, while the other is counter to start?
 
Oh, this is one of those difficult (for me) to describe situations. I don't have a wheel like that to show you, and some of the pics I've found don't show the detail I need. Best I can say is:

The inners shouldn't cross near the rim. Adjacent inners exit in a V pattern as they exit the rim towards the hub, exactly the way your outers are laced.

And adjacent outers cross near the rim, exactly the way your inners are laced.

A properly dimpled/drilled rim would have half of its dimples aimed a little inboard for the inners, and a little more outboard for the outers, and the inboard aimed dimples that are adjacent would exit in that V.

In this fashion, the rim drives the lacing pattern. You can take a rim, populate any 4 adjacent holes with 4 spoke nipple/nuts, hold them down (can use a rimstrip), and the subtle inner/outer angles should be seen, and that subtle inboard angle would be for 2 adjacent nipples that exit in a V...
 
If you look at that Fong Brothers tutorial again, look at pic #5. You'll see that the valve stem hole is between a pair of inners, and those inners emerge from the rim in a V (to give the valvestem clearance). Pic #6 shows the inners only laced, and you should see that telltale V of the inners where they meet the rim.

It's hard to see in your wheel pic, but it looks like the valve stem hole is between a pair of outers. Having the inners and outers transposed like that could keep the nipples from seating properly in a properly drilled rim, and give you the feeling that the rim nipple holes need to be drilled a little...
 
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