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Builder’s Tip: A Tangle-Free Way to Unroll Electric Cable
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Click for larger image. | If you’ve ever pulled electric cable out of its coil in a random manner, you know how the wire loops can get curlier than Shirley Temple’s hair.
There is a better way to store and unroll the cable ― using a simple, handmade plywood spool.
- As shown in the accompanying drawing, I made the spool a little larger in diameter than the coil — about 14 inches.
- I sanded the edges of the plywood to avoid cuts and splinters and then drilled it for a length of sturdy dowel.
- I made a space like the one shown in the drawing out of 1x stock to go between the disks.
- I then screwed plywood blocks from opposite sides to the axle to unite the spool.
To use the spool, I hang the dowel from adjacent studs and unroll the cable. Or, I simply tack the wire to the floor and then, with a good shove, roll the spool across the floor.
Either way, the wire is nice and straight.
— Michael A. Meredith, Springfield, Va.
Tips & Techniques provided by Fine Homebuilding.
©2008 The Taunton Press
To contact Fine Homebuilding, e-mail Christina Glennon.
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