Wheel Building

[vorsprung]

I rest a finger on the spoke as I turn the nipple. That way I can feel how far the spoke turns before the threads release and how much residual twist is left once I've tightened or loosened the nipple. You can feel for residual twist by checking resistance to turning the nipple a little in each direction. Then it is just a case of allowing some 'Tennessee windage' in turning the nipple too much each time you need to adjust it and then bringing it back to neutral.

I've made a little indicator flag that clips on the spoke and shows the exact amount of deflection

[rafletcher]

Doesn't a tensiometer measure soil moisture?

Yep, and a TS-1 is the truing stand 

TM-1 is what I think is intended, a Tension Meter

[LittleWheelsandBig]

I rest a finger on the spoke as I turn the nipple. That way I can feel how far the spoke turns before the threads release and how much residual twist is left once I've tightened or loosened the nipple. You can feel for residual twist by checking resistance to turning the nipple a little in each direction. Then it is just a case of allowing some 'Tennessee windage' in turning the nipple too much each time you need to adjust it and then bringing it back to neutral.

I've made a little indicator flag that clips on the spoke and shows the exact amount of deflection

I'm too lazy to take that amount of time for a visual cue. Given that there is no residual twist left with my method, I'm happy enough.

[mark]

Doesn't a tensiometer measure soil moisture?

Yep, and a TS-1 is the truing stand 

TM-1 is what I think is intended, a Tension Meter

Soil moisture or surface tension in liquids, according to Wikipedia. Merriam-Webster still defines a tensiometer as a device for measuring tension of structural material, in addition to the two definitions I gave. I recall Park Tools describing their tool as a tensiometer, the website now calls it a tension meter.

[rogerzilla]

I've heard it called a tensionometer, which sounds like an attempt to split the difference