The part about being able to spin the wheel freely and see the rim against a fixed point is the real key here, not the stand itself. You can get most of that same benefit with a zip tie wrapped around your fork leg or seat stay and trimmed so the tail just barely kisses the rim, then you spin the wheel and watch where it rubs. Costs you nothing and it gives you that fixed reference you were missing with the brake pads. The thing is though, brake pads move and flex and you're eyeballing a gap that changes, so they're a bad gauge even when the wheel is dead straight. A cheap stand is nicer for sure, but the fork trick done right with a zip tie gets you 90 percent of the way there.

Gotta disagree with the reply-to-a-comment test as the thing that matters most. A parts list for a Singer 201 is forever useful, a 2010 comment reply just proves the person was polite one time. If someone is restoring a machine they need specs and measurements, not proof of a friendly blogger. Both things tell you the blog was alive but only one tells you the writer actually knew their stuff. I would have linked the Dreamwidth one and just told people the pics are slow.