Reel size
24-inch cable reels
The 24-inch reel is the smallest wooden reel we handle in numbers: light enough to carry, common on electrical jobs, and the size most people picture when they want a little spool side table.
The numbers
- Flange thickness
- 1.25 to 1.75 in
- Height on its flange
- about 15 to 20 in
- Handling
- By hand; one person can carry or roll it
- Weight method
- Two flange discs plus the stave shell, at 28 to 40 lb per cubic foot
What it carries
Building wire in shorter put-ups, control and instrumentation cable, low-voltage and data cable, and fibre drop cable. Many 24-inch reels are plywood rather than board-built, especially from low-voltage and data makers.
Who empties them
Electricians on service calls and small jobs, low-voltage integrators, maintenance shops in plants. They pile up in van shelves, garages and shop corners, a few at a time, and are rarely worth a trip on their own.
Buyback, return or recycling
Bought in numbers, palletised or boxed. A single 24-inch reel rides with a bigger pickup. Few 24-inch wooden reels are returnable; small plastic reels of the same size usually are, to their distributor.
Uses for buyers
Side tables, plant stands, nightstands, kids' tables and shop displays. For rewinding, they suit short lengths of small cable, pulling rope or tape.
Where they turn up around Chicago
Garages in Garfield Ridge and Berwyn, low-voltage integrators' warehouses in Bolingbrook, lab fit-outs in Skokie, office floors in Itasca and Schaumburg. Anywhere small cable is pulled, 24-inch reels collect in corners until somebody boxes them.
Palletise them: twenty or thirty 24-inch reels stacked flat on a pallet and shrink-wrapped make a tidy, quick-loading lot.
Checking one
- Plywood flanges: look for swelling or layers separating at the edge.
- Board flanges: check the nails haven't pulled through.
- Make sure the arbor hole isn't chewed oval by a spindle.
- Small reels hide staples on the drum; run a gloved hand over it.
Shipping and storing small reels
Small reels travel best boxed in gaylords or stacked flat on pallets and shrink-wrapped. Loose ones roll around a truck bed and chip their flanges. Indoors, they hang neatly on wall pegs through the arbor hole, which is how many electricians keep part-used ones.
How much cable it holds
Layered capacity at the middle build shown above, with 2 inches of clearance below the flange rim. Real cable packs less neatly; treat these as upper figures and check with the capacity calculator.
| Cable diameter | Length | Layers × turns |
|---|---|---|
| 0.25 in (6 mm) | 3,750 ft (1,145 m) | 16 × 56 |
| 0.35 in (9 mm) | 1,830 ft (555 m) | 11 × 40 |
| 0.5 in (13 mm) | 940 ft (285 m) | 8 × 28 |
| 0.65 in (17 mm) | 520 ft (160 m) | 6 × 21 |
| 0.8 in (20 mm) | 360 ft (110 m) | 5 × 17 |
| 1 in (25 mm) | 230 ft (70 m) | 4 × 14 |
| 1.25 in (32 mm) | 140 ft (40 m) | 3 × 11 |
| 1.5 in (38 mm) | 70 ft (20 m) | 2 × 9 |
| 1.75 in (44 mm) | 60 ft (20 m) | 2 × 8 |
| 2 in (51 mm) | 60 ft (20 m) | 2 × 7 |
In metric
- Flange
- 61 cm
- Traverse
- 30 to 41 cm
- Drum
- 25 to 36 cm
- Empty weight
- about 11 to 32 kg
Questions
How tall is a 24-inch spool on its flange?
About 15 to 19 inches, depending on the traverse and flange thickness. Coffee-table or side-table height.
Is one 24-inch reel worth selling?
On its own, rarely. In a box or on a pallet with others, yes, and a single one rides along with a bigger pickup nearby.
Can kids use a 24-inch spool as a play table?
Yes, once sanded smooth, every nail and staple removed, edges rounded and sealed. Its low weight means it can tip if climbed, so set it on a flat floor.
What fits on a 24-inch reel?
Short lengths of small cable: a few hundred to a few thousand feet, depending on diameter. See the capacity table above.
Reel words on this page
- 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.
- Lagging / staves
- The boards nailed around the drum, and the protective boards sometimes nailed across the flanges over finished cable.
- One-way reel
- A reel nobody is collecting. Once empty, it belongs to whoever holds it.
Selling or buying 24-inch cable reels?
Pick buy, sell or recycle, the product, the count and your ZIP, and the full request opens with those filled in.
Or write to info@chicagowoodenspools.com with the count, flange sizes and a photo of the stack.