John in Kalifornia wrote on 08/11/12 at 07:50:29:HEY JOHN,
I have a question, and possible suggestion about this diagram.
i'd be concerned with the amount of wheel material being taken off on the short side of the spoke dimple (The right side in your diagram).
It seems taking a little off might help, but maybe not enough for the shoulder of the nipple to really seat all the way around.
What if, on the other side of the hole, you build the area up just a tad with some JB Weld? Then maybe you wouldn't have to take too much metal away from the wheel rim. The JB Weld wouldn't need to be structural really; it would just get sandwiched between the wheel rim and the nipple.
Again, you'd only want to build up a very little bit. Don't want the nipples to be pulled too far up into the wheel rim.
Another thing I thought of; I've used simple finish washers before in places where I needed something to squish into an oddly shaped space, and they work pretty well. They are pretty thin, and fairly soft, so the deform to fit whatever surface they are contacting pretty well. They might be the way to go as far as the washers. Again, the key would be making sure your nipples get down far enough into the hole to get a really good bite on the threads of the spokes.
I'm going to try to pick up my wheel and spokes and such tomorrow. I'll let you know what I come up with if anything.
Cheers!