The Top 4 Places to Find a Wood Spool End for your DIY Projects

Most of us love to look at DIY projects and pine away thinking about how we'd like to redecorate, repurpose and build our own little havens. (Pinterest addicts unite!) Getting started on that long list of projects is the hard part.

One of our most favorite DIY projects is a large Spool Clock. (Check out our Spool Tutorial and private Facebook Group that shows you step-by-step how to make your own.) Whatever your project, the first thing you'll need to do is find a Spool End.

Here's our list of The Top 4 Places to Find a Wood Spool End for your DIY Projects, like a Spool Clock, Table Top, etc...

1) Craigslist

When looking on Craigslist for a Spool, search locally for keywords such as "spool", "spool end", "wood spool", "wire spool", "cable spool", etc... You'll probably see them as a complete spool with 2 ends. We'll talk about how to disassemble them in a bit. If they're for sale, we don't recommend paying any more than $30 for a complete spool.

2) Facebook Swap Pages

Some DIYers might have collected Spool Ends for others. Typically, they'll sell just one spool end at a time, already disassembled. If you're buying a single end, pay no more than $10-$15. You can put out an ISO post on those pages, search for a spool in a particular page or just wait for one to come available. Another option would be to look in the "Marketplace" section on Facebook, too.

To find Facebook Swap pages in your area, go to the "Explore" then "Groups" area on the side bar of your own personal FB page. There should be several that pop up close to you. Once you "like" one of those pages, more will show up as suggestions. Just make sure you read and follow the buying/selling rules on each of those pages. You don't want to get kicked out of a page for not following their guidelines.

3) Utility Companies

Contact a local utility (cable/phone) or construction company and ask if they have any for sale. If you see a crew working on site, you might work up your courage to stop and ask them what they do with their spools when they're done with them or at best, get a contact number. They might also offer you one for free.

4) Friends & Family

Mention on Social Media or via Email to friends and family that you're looking for a spool. They might have one or know where to get one. Network as much as possible. Before you know it, people will start reaching out to you with options.

Once you've made your connections for obtaining a Spool, you could possibly buy from them again in the future, so keep those lines of communication open!

Just for a reference, when we make our Spool Clocks, we recommend not using one over 40" across. Spools can be very heavy and it's hard to secure a Spool that's over 40" to a wall. We prefer to use 30"-36" spool ends.

When it comes to disassembling a Spool, grab a friend and a couple of wrenches. There are usually 3-4 cables that run through the spool to attach both ends. Depending on the size, you'll need one person to use a wrench to hold a bolt in place, while the other person uses a wrench on the bolt on the opposite end to loosen the bolt. The entire Wood Spool should easily fall apart once you have the 3-4 bolts undone.

So there you go. You now know The Top 4 Places to Find a Wood Spool End for your DIY Projects. There are a lot of fun projects for them, just like our Spool Clock Tutorial.

We'd love to see pictures of your Spool Projects. Feel free to email them to us at anna@renuehomestudio.com and we'll post them on our Facebook page.

Blessings,