Guide
Nailed reels and 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.
From a few feet away the two look alike. Up close, the hardware tells you how the reel was meant to live, who probably owns it, and what should happen to it now that it is empty.
How a nailed reel is built
Each flange is two layers of boards laid crosswise and nailed together. Staves, also called lagging, are nailed around the drum discs between the flanges. A thin steel ring may line the arbor hole. The whole reel is designed to survive one shipment, a payoff and a return trip to a yard.
Nailed reels are cheaper to build and lighter for their size. Most of the empty reels in contractor yards are nailed.
How a bolted reel is built
Flange boards are thicker, and long through-bolts run from one flange to the other around the drum, clamping the reel together. A steel plate at the arbor carries the maker's name and a reel number. Some bolted reels have steel bands around the flange rim.
Bolts can be tightened after a hard trip and a damaged board swapped, so the reel can make many journeys. That repairability is the whole point of the extra cost.
Side by side
| Nailed | Bolted | |
|---|---|---|
| Fastening | Nails | Through-bolts and nuts |
| Arbor | Bare wood or thin ring | Steel plate, often stamped |
| Flange boards | Thinner for the size | Thicker |
| Usual ownership | One-way, customer keeps | Maker or supplier, returnable |
| Usual next step | Buyback or recycling | Maker take-back |
Reels with both
Some reels are nailed with a few bolts added for strength, or have a steel arbor plate on otherwise nailed flanges. Treat any reel with a steel plate as returnable until the maker says otherwise. Bolts alone, without a plate or return wording, are less certain; call the maker with any number you can find.
For table and furniture buyers
Nailed reels make better tables: lighter, cheaper and with no maker to answer to. Bolted reels are heavier and usually not ours to sell.
Telling them apart at a glance
Walk past the row and look at the flange face near the drum. Bolt heads sit in a neat ring, usually six to twelve of them, with washers. Nail heads scatter across every board in lines. A steel plate the size of a dinner plate around the arbor almost always means bolted construction and a maker's ownership.
Repairing each kind
A bolted reel is repaired by its owner: bolts are retightened, a cracked board is replaced, a bent plate is straightened, and the reel goes back into service. A nailed reel is seldom repaired for cable work, because the labour costs more than a new reel. For a table or a garden project, though, re-nailing a loose board or adding a few screws is fine.
Weight and handling
For the same flange size a bolted reel is heavier: thicker boards, steel hardware, sometimes a steel band. That matters when you move it. Treat any bolted reel over 48 inches as a forklift job, and check that bolt ends and nuts have not rusted sharp before handling it.
Nailed reels can hide long nails that have backed out of the flange; wear gloves.
Questions
What is the difference between nailed and bolted reels?
Nails hold a one-trip reel together; through-bolts and steel plates hold a reel built to make many trips, usually for a maker's return program.
Can a nailed reel be returnable?
Yes. Some makers collect their nailed reels too; Service Wire's program covers its own nailed reels from 30 to 72 inches.
Do you buy bolted reels?
Only if they are confirmed one-way. Most are routed back to their makers.
Which is better for a cable payoff?
Both work if sound. Bolted reels stay truer over many trips, which is why makers use them for heavy cable.
Reel words on this page
- 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.
- Lagging / staves
- The boards nailed around the drum, and the protective boards sometimes nailed across the flanges over finished cable.
- Arbor hole
- The centre hole a spindle, shaft or payoff bar passes through.
- 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.
More reel guides
- What empty reels are worth
Size, build and condition decide it. What gets paid for, and what does not.
- Do supply houses take reels back?
When the counter or the maker behind it takes reels, and what happens to the rest.
- Returnable vs one-way reels
Reading the tag, the stencils and the build to know whose reel it is.
- Which makers take reels back
Published maker return programs, their minimums and their condition rules.
- Reel sizes explained
Flange, drum and traverse, with a size chart from 24 to 96 inches.
- Measuring a reel
Four measurements, one tape and a minute per reel.
- When a reel can't be reused
The defects that end a reel's working life, drawn and explained.
- Disposing of wooden reels
Four ways out for a wooden reel, with the dumpster last.
- Staging reels for pickup
Stand, chock, sort and leave room for the forks.
- Reel weights by size
Empty weights worked out from the wood, and what each means for loading.
- The reel capacity formula
How much cable fits on a reel, worked through step by step.
Reels to clear or a size to find?
Tell us what you have or what you need. One work order covers pickup, buyback, recycling and supply.
Or write to info@chicagowoodenspools.com with the count, flange sizes and a photo of the stack.