Buy wooden spools
Wooden spools for sale
The desk sells empty wooden spools and cable reels collected from jobs and yards around the capital region, from 23-inch reels for a balcony table to 72-inch reels for a farm. Tell it the flange size, how many and where they are going, and it matches you to reels as they come in.
From the reel desk · Checked 9 November 2026
Where the spools come from
Every reel the desk sells has carried cable on a job in this region: building wire in a District fit-out, feeders on a Loudoun campus, conductor on a Prince George's utility line. When the cable is pulled, the empty reel is either sent back to its maker (steel and returnable reels always are) or comes to the desk. The sound ones are sorted by size and build and offered to buyers.
That means two things. First, supply follows construction, not a catalogue: some weeks bring many 36-inch reels, others a run of 60s. Second, a reel has a history. Expect weathering, scuffs, stencils, staple holes and the odd broken edge board. The desk tells you plainly what condition a reel is in.
Choosing a size
- 23 to 30 inches. Balcony and side tables, hose winders, shop reels. One person can carry them.
- 36 to 42 inches. Coffee and patio tables, garden and farm use. Two people to lift; one can roll them.
- 48 inches. The classic big spool: outdoor tables for four, displays, poly pipe and heavy hose. A machine or several people to lift.
- 54 to 72 inches. Farms, landscapers, displays, working reels for heavy cable. A forklift or tractor at your end.
Height matters as much as width. A reel stood on end is as tall as its overall width: Southwire's 48-inch A-38 stands about 32 inches, its 36-inch H-13 about 19.
Choosing a build
- Nailed wood. Two-ply flanges nailed at right angles, a ring of staves. Heavy, strong, takes weather well. The default for tables and farms.
- Plywood. Lighter, smoother faces, often smaller. Fine indoors or under cover; flanges delaminate if left wet.
- Steel and plastic reels are not sold here as a rule; steel ones usually belong to their makers.
Condition words the desk uses
The request asks for condition: New, Used or Damaged. For spools, "new" means a reel that never carried cable or barely did, rare in practice; "used" is a sound reel that has done its job; "damaged" is a reel with a broken board, missing staves or rot, priced and described as such, and often what someone building furniture from the lumber wants.
Getting it home
The pages below cover each kind of buyer. For delivery, the desk needs the address, how the truck reaches the spot, and how the reel comes off: two people, a ramp, a tractor with forks. A 48-inch reel weighs about 200 pounds empty; a 60-inch wooden reel about 400.
Large wooden spools
Large wooden spools
Large wooden spools with 48 to 96 inch flanges from power and utility cable: what they weigh, how they move, and how to request one.
Working cable spools
Wooden cable spools for re-use on wire
Nailed wooden cable spools in common flange sizes for contractors who need to re-spool cable, store wire or move it to another job.
Used cable reels
Used cable reels
Used wooden cable reels graded by condition: sound for re-winding, fine for projects, or lumber only, so you know what you're asking for.
Empty cable spools
Empty cable spools
Empty cable spools from the region's power, data-centre and fiber jobs, small to large, for crafts, storage, furniture and farm use.
Spools for tables
Wooden spools for tables
Which wooden spool sizes make a coffee table, patio table or bar table, what to check before you build, and how to ask for one.
Reels in bulk
Buying cable reels in bulk
Reels by the dozen or the trailer for contractors, farms and resellers: tell the desk the flange size, count and condition you need.
Before you buy a spool
| Use | Flange | What matters most |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee or side table | 30 to 36 in | A flat, uncracked top flange and a height of 16 to 26 in on end |
| Patio or dining table | 36 to 48 in | Overall width near 28 to 30 in, so chairs fit under the top |
| Hose, rope or wire winding | 24 to 42 in | A round arbor hole and a drum that turns true on a shaft |
| Re-spooling cable | 30 to 60 in | Drum diameter and traverse matched to the cable's bend radius and length |
| Displays, venues, farms | 48 to 72 in | Somewhere firm to set it down, and a machine to do it |
- Look at both flanges. Cracks that run across the grain, split rims and loose tie rods are what fail first. Ask for photos of each face.
- Check for nails. Run a hand round the rim and the drum; anything standing proud gets pulled or set before use.
- Ask about treatment before a spool goes indoors, into a garden bed or near food. Some reels are preservative-treated; most are plain lumber.
- Plan the last fifty feet. Under about 36 inches, two people carry it. Up to 48, a ramp and two people. Above that, forks, a loader or a tractor.
- Matched sets come from one job or one maker. Say if the spools must match in size, stencil or colour.
Questions the desk gets
Does the desk keep reels in stock?
Reels come in as yards are cleared, so what is on hand changes week to week. Send a request with the size you want and the desk matches it as reels arrive.
Can I pick a reel up myself?
Ask in the request. Small reels often can be collected; large ones usually travel on the desk's truck.
Sources
Each opened and read on 9 November 2026.
- Southwire, Reel Packaging Information (CableTech Support): reel series, wooden reel dimensions and weights, steel reel dimensions and charges, tag contents; cites NEMA WC26
- Sonoco, EcoReel Recycling Program: free pickup of truckloads of viable nailed wood and polyfiber reels; reels repaired and returned to wire and cable makers; reels-per-truckload table