Guides
Reel guides
Plain answers to the questions people ask about empty cable reels and wooden spools: what they are worth, whose they are, how to measure and move them, and where they should go. Each guide answers its question in the first sentence, then explains.
Clearing reels
For anyone with a stack of empties to deal with.
- What empty reels are worth
- An empty wooden cable reel is worth what someone will pay to reuse it: sound one-way reels in common sizes get bought, broken reels usually cost something to recycle, and returnable reels are not yours to sell at all.
- Disposing of wooden reels
- The best way to dispose of wooden cable reels is not to throw them away: return the maker's reels to the maker, sell the sound one-way reels, give or sell spools to people who reuse them, and send only the broken ones to wood recycling.
- Staging reels for pickup
- To store and stage empty reels for pickup, stand them on edge rather than flat, chock both sides, keep them off the ground on timbers, sort them by size and leave a clear aisle for a forklift.
- When a reel can't be reused
- A wooden reel can no longer be reused when its structure fails: rotted or missing drum staves, a torn drive hole, a cracked arbor hole or a badly warped flange are the usual causes, and two or more together almost always mean recycling.
Who owns the reel
Before selling anything, check whether it is owed back.
- Returnable vs one-way reels
- A returnable reel is one its maker or supplier expects back and usually marks as such; a one-way reel is built for a single trip and becomes the customer's to keep, sell or recycle.
- Do supply houses take reels back?
- Some electrical supply houses take back reels, but usually only plastic reels in their own return loop or returnable reels their makers want collected; most will not take one-way wooden reels.
- Which makers take reels back
- Several large wire and cable makers run reel return programs, including Southwire, Service Wire, CommScope and Corning, but each takes only its own reels and most set truckload minimums and condition rules.
- Nailed vs bolted reels
- A nailed reel has flanges held together with nails and is usually built for one trip, while a bolted reel uses through-bolts and often steel plates so it can be inspected, repaired and sent out again, usually under a maker's return program.
Sizes and numbers
For buyers, rewinders and anyone matching a reel to cable.
- Reel sizes explained
- Wooden cable reels are sized by flange diameter, from about 12 inches for small spools to 96 inches and more for utility reels, and each size comes with a drum diameter and a traverse width that set what it can carry.
- Measuring a reel
- To measure a cable reel, take four numbers with a tape: the flange diameter edge to edge, the drum diameter, the traverse (the inside width between the flanges) and the arbor hole.
- Reel weights by size
- An empty wooden cable reel weighs roughly 25 to 70 pounds at 24 inches, a few hundred pounds at 48 to 60 inches, and around half a ton or more at 96 inches, depending on the build and how wet the wood is.
- The reel capacity formula
- The standard cable reel capacity formula is length in feet = 0.262 × (H + D) × H × T ÷ d², where H is the winding depth, D the drum diameter, T the traverse and d the cable diameter, all in inches.
The calculator
The reel capacity calculator takes a flange, drum, traverse and cable diameter and works out how many feet fit, by the standard formula and by counting whole layers. It also checks every common reel size against a length you need, and can turn the answer into a request for reels.
How these guides are written
Facts about maker programs come from the makers' own published pages, and each guide says to check the current terms because programs change. Weights and capacities are worked out from stated dimensions and wood densities, and are labelled as estimates. Where something depends on a particular reel, a particular site or a particular maker, the guide says so rather than guessing.
Words used across the guides
- Flange
- The round side discs that hold the cable in. Flange diameter, edge to edge, is the size a reel is known by.
- Drum (barrel)
- The cylinder between the flanges that the cable winds around.
- Traverse
- The inside width between the flanges: how wide a layer of cable can be.
- Arbor hole
- The centre hole a spindle, shaft or payoff bar passes through.
- Drive hole
- A smaller hole off-centre in the flange that a drive pin uses to turn the reel.
- Lagging / staves
- The boards nailed around the drum, and the protective boards sometimes nailed across the flanges over finished cable.
- Nailed vs bolted
- Nailed reels are held together with nails and built for one trip; bolted reels have through-bolts and steel plates for many.
- Returnable reel
- A reel its maker expects back, usually stencilled or tagged to say so.
- One-way reel
- A reel nobody is collecting. Once empty, it belongs to whoever holds it.
- Reel tag
- The label or plate carrying the maker, the reel number and sometimes the return terms.
- Payoff
- The stand or trailer a reel turns on while cable is pulled off it.
Something missing?
If a question about reels is not answered here, write to info@chicagowoodenspools.com. Questions that come up often become guides. Corrections help as well: if a maker changes its return terms or a figure looks wrong for reels you handle, tell us and the page gets fixed.
Read enough? Start the request
Pick buy, sell or recycle, then the product. A count, flange sizes and a ZIP are enough to quote.
Or write to info@chicagowoodenspools.com with the count, flange sizes and a photo of the stack.