How to avoid damaging spoke nipples when wheel building I have just successfully built two wheels. The final step of the process was perfecting the true and the dish. I used a spoke key for this, and this resulted in unwanted scuffing and nicks on the (brass) spoke nipples. Is there any way I could have avoided this?

Using a high quality spoke key that engages on 4 sides (and fits properly) usually avoids this problem, even with coloured alu nipples.