Portable

Hose Reel

Made of commonly available

materials and hardware, this hose reel is inexpensive and easy to build.

As usual, the hose for my air compressor was tangled like spaghetti on the shop floor. And as I struggled to untie the "knots," the same old thought crossed my mind. Perhaps it was finally time to break down and buy a hose reel.

The only drawback was the cost. The least expensive hose reel I could find was $79. And many of them cost more than $200. (At that price, I figured I'd just get along with a tangled-up air hose.)

shop-made reel. But about this same time, I received an idea for a shop-made hose reel from Tom Accuntius of Sidney, Ohio. With just a few scrap pieces of plywood, dowels, and some standard pipe fittings, he made a hose reel for a fraction of the cost of a store-bought version.

Using a similar idea, I set about building a hose reel of my own, see photo above. It holds a 50-foot length of ³/8" air hose. But the size of the reel can be easily modified for longer hoses.

airtight shaft. Regardless of the length of the hose, the compressor supplies air to it through the shaft of the reel, see photo below. That's where the

iron pipe "l fittings come in. They work together to form anji airtight shaft that's connected to the hose. (Pipe "fittings are available at most hardware stores. We've also put together a complete hardwar^^ kit to build the hose reel, see page 31.) '

crank. Besides serving as an air channel, the shaft of the hose reel has a simple wood crank mounted to one end. Turning the crank spins the reel so you can quickly wind up the air hose.

portable. One final note. Although the hose reel hangs on the wall, it's not permanently attached. Instead, it rests securely on two wall-mounted brackets, see photo on page 7. This makes it easy to remove the hose reel when working outside the shop.

Airtight Shaft. A flexible hose directs air from the sticking out that's used to connect the air hose* compressor into the shaft of the hose reel. Made Turning a crank on the end of the shaft spins the up of standard pipe fittings, the shaft has an elbow reel so you can quickly wind up the air hose.

6 ShopNotes No. 41

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