Keeping coiled stock, such as Romex wire, drywall tape, or even extension cords, organized in tidy spools is always a mark of a well-managed job site. The plumbers came on our job today, and their lead guy, John Gage, had another example of coil-stock management. He’d become frustrated with an unruly spool of vinyl pipe strapping. To keep it under control, he made a reel out of a 10-in. galvanized heat-pipe cap, as shown in the drawing. It’s topped with a lid made from a discarded sheet-metal disk, held in place with a 1/4-in. machine bolt and nut.
—Don Mathis, Macomb, IL
Edited and illustrated by Charles Miller
From Fine Homebuilding #178
