One spool for a project

Why one spool is mostly a freight question

Our desk is built around reel lots, because freight is paid by the trailer. A full trailer can carry up to about 200 small reels, according to Sonoco's figures, so each one carries a tiny share of the cost. A single spool on its own truck carries all of it. That is not a markup; it is just what it costs to send a truck.

So for one spool we start by asking where you are and how flexible you are on timing. If a lot is already moving toward your area, one more small reel on that trailer costs little. If nothing is, we will tell you the honest freight figure, and sometimes the honest advice is to look closer to home.

Three ways to get one spool

Collecting is often cheapest by a long way, but it depends on a seller close to you being willing to let a member of the public onto their site. Many will; some yards don't allow visitors. We ask, and pass on their rules.

Picking a size for a spool table

A spool table is a reel laid on one flange, so the top flange becomes the tabletop and the drum becomes the base. That makes the sizing simple. The table's diameter is the flange diameter. Its height is the traverse plus the thickness of both flanges. Measure the flange thickness on the reel itself, because ply counts differ.

Common furniture heights give you a target. A coffee table usually sits around 16 to 18 inches high, a side table nearer 22 to 26, and a dining table about 28 to 30. Work back from the height to the traverse you need, then pick the flange for the top you want.

Traverse figures assume a few inches in total for the two flanges; measure the actual reel before you commit.

What to look for on a project spool

• A flat top flange: lay a straightedge across it. A cupped or lifted ply will rock a glass top and catch a plate.
• Nails and staples: check both flanges and the drum for proud nails, old staples and label tacks before you sand.
• Splits and checks: surface checks sand out; a crack through a ply is a weak spot under weight.
• Paint and stencils: some people keep the reel stencil as a feature; decide before you sand it off.
• Old grease or cable lubricant on the drum: wipe and test-sand a patch before finishing.
• Whether the wood was treated: ask, and we pass on whatever the seller knows. If nobody knows, keep it outdoors or seal it.

Moving it home

A spool is a wheel. On a slope it rolls on its own, and a big one will not stop for you. Move it standing on its rim only on flat, firm ground, with someone on each side, and lay it flat on a flange the moment it is where you want it.

In a truck bed or trailer, lay small and mid-size spools flat on a flange and strap them down across the top. Larger ones that must ride on the rim need chocks on both sides and straps through the arbor hole. Lift with two people or a machine, never by the edge of one flange alone.

Turning a reel into a table: practical notes

Start by pulling every nail and staple you don't need and setting the rest below the surface with a punch. Sand the top flange with a coarse grit to flatten it, then work up to a finer one; the cross-laid plies of a nailed flange have gaps between boards, and you can fill them with wood filler or leave them as they are under a glass top.

The arbor hole goes straight through the center, which is handy outdoors: it takes a patio umbrella pole. Indoors, plug it with a dowel or a round of scrap plywood. For a table you will move, casters screwed to the bottom flange make it easy to push, but check that the plies there are sound enough to hold screws.

Seal it before use. An exterior oil or a spar varnish suits a patio; an interior finish is enough for a living room. Pine from a reel is soft, so a hard topcoat or glass protects it from rings and dents.

If you need a few, not one

Event planners, garden centers, bars and shops sometimes need five or ten spools of one look. At that count, sharing a trailer starts to make sense, and a matching set from one yard is easier to find than you might think, because yards hold reels in batches from the same cable orders.

Give us the size range, the count and the delivery ZIP on the request form on this page, and tell us the look you want: weathered, clean, stencilled or plain. We will say whether a lot near you can carry them.