Anybody ever build their own air hose reel?

[Ken Adams]

Just wondering if anybody built their own air hose reel? Doesn't seem to difficult, but figured if someone already did it they could point me in the right direction.

Thanks

[FriscoSoxFan]

I have the HF cheap hand crank type. You're right, wouldn't be hard to build if I had been so inclined. the key component is the swivel connector. After that, a little creativity and you're there.

[Mike Marlow]

Nope, I have a commercial one. One piece of advice, I'd recommend a spring loaded model so that it recoils on its own. The crank style are a pain in the butt if you use the air hose a lot. By the time you bought the materials and built your own it would probably be cheaper and better just to buy one. Of course, you wouldn't have the pleasure of having made it yourself.

[Larry Bud]

Thats a great idea. Those reels are expensive, even the ones that just coil up...

I think if I were to do it, I would use a 1" pipe for the "axle" and just have a corresponding hole. I don't think it would have to have any kind of bearing assembly.

[Jon Endres, PE]

Shop Notes magazine, Issue #41. Has plans for a portable hose reel. I built it exactly to the plans, it will hold about 175 feet of air hose. I've been carting it around with my air compressor, a manifold and a couple framing nailers to build a new house, and it works great. Only thing that might be useful on it is a bleeder valve and maybe some way of easily anchoring the base on a construction site. For shop use, I just hang it on the wall on two pegboard hooks.

Jon Endres

[Brian Elfert]

What do you consider expensive?

I bought a brand-new, made in the USA, air hose reel for $76 including shipping off Ebay last April or so. This is a Reeltek made by Reelcraft. It is spring loaded and has a racheting lock.

I think the same seller is still selling them occasionally, but not necessarily for $76.

You can get Chiwanese hose reels with springs for around $50 or so I think.

Brian Elfert

[Tim Douglass]

I'm not sure it would be worth it. I got a Grizzly hand-crank reel for about $40 on sale. It holds 100' of hose and works very nicely. I really doubt that I could buy the swivel fitting and rig something for much less.

Tim Douglass

[Phisherman]

I saw a plan in ShopNotes. The reel can be easily removed from the wall if needed. I use a dowel (I turned from some scrap cherry wood)

1.5" dia x 18" with a clothes line tied to the center and attached to the ceiling. I quickly coil the hose around my hand and elbow, then slip the dowel through the hose. I do the same with a garden hose--no kinks, easy to use, and nearly free to build.

[ToolMiser]

I seen a plan a few years ago in one of the magazines where they used a male "quick" connector onto the end of the center axle. The idea was that you could wind or unwind and then hook up your hose afterword without much of a hassle and without that leaky connector.

[David]

No. You can get a 25' metal retractable reel at HD. That's an improvement over the kludgy plastic reels Sears sells.

Dave

Ken Adams wrote:

[Dave Jackson]

Once upon a time i built one out of a freebie garden hose reel. The task involved replacing the innerds with air fittings. The only trick was mounting the female end to the side of the reel so the male end could rotate when the reel was used. IIRC, this just involved getting a few fittings and a piece of plexiglass to mount everyhting to. I don't recall it being very difficult to do, and it lasted several years residing in the back of the truck with 100' of hose. --dave