Kittyslaver & mentor pointed out a couple of things I left out. Brass nipple can take higher spoke tension. Proper tension is very important for a wheel to hold true under load. I prefer Velox cloth tape. The tape is also very important. It has to cover the nipple holes in the rim completely and not move around. It has to be stiff enough not to pimple in the nipple holes. If the slightest amount of hole is exposed. The inner tube will expand into it a blow. This looks like a snake bits but is not. I have yet to build my first wheel. It is an art. I have a friend that fabricates trikes. He laces his own wheels. He has shown me the ropes. I use his Park Tool truing stand from time to time. You have to have the right tools to do this. The stand and the tensiometer are must haves. There is allot of reference material on the web.