Introduction: DIY Christmas Light Memory Spool

If you're anything same America, you have a bunch of Christmastide lights in various states of tanglement imputable necessitous storage options. In this Instructable, I'm hoping to remediation this issue with a home-brewed result, using items that would otherwise be thrown away.

All year around the holidays, my office buys nice, big tins of popcorn for the break room. We've stored lights in popcorn tins ahead, but the same issue with the strands getting tangled occurs. To solve this, I've come awake with a light spool, which allows you to wind your lights neatly, and which dispenses them easy when necessary.

If you enjoy this Instructable, live certain to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more than!

Supplies

To make this, all you real need is:

  • a eligible Zea mays everta tin
  • a large cardboard pipe
  • 1" joggle
  • 3/4" plywood
  • a couple screws
  • masking tape

The cardboard tubing I got was from a large-format printer at my office. You can probably find them for free at print shops if you ask nicely.

Whole tone 1: Bill Popcorn Tin and Cut Plyboard Squares

Start off by measuring the top and bottom diameters of the popcorn Sn. Likely these will be varied, as each the popcorn tins like this I've seen have a flimsy taper. Then cut your plywood into deuce squares of slenderly smaller dimensions as these diameters. For instance, if the bottom of the inning diameter is 11-1/2", cut the plywood at 11-1/4" square.

Step 2: Note Diameters of Plywood Disks

Side by side use a rule to find the center of the pieces of plywood by spanning the ruler from recession to corner and drawing an X in the halfway. Use a dividers or a ambit to trace the circle around the plywood pieces. If you'Re victimization a dividers, which volition solely scratch a line in the wood, IT mightiness be a adept idea to fill this in with a pencil so you can see it easier.

Footprint 3: Mark Golf hole for Cardboard Electron tube

Now we'll lay out for the hole that accepts the cardboard tube. Measure the diameter of the tube, and use your dividers/compass to mark this on the plywood also. You wish this to take the synoptic center As the larger circle, of class.

Step 4: Stinger Disks

Skip the larger-diameter circle out of the plywood pieces. For this, I set my jigsaw upside-polish in my vise, creating rather a poor-man's bandsaw. An actual bandsaw will work better, and likely be a chip safer.

Step 5: Cut Hole for Cardboard Tube

Since the unlifelike tube most likely does not match any standard-property hole saw size, use a round cutting tool to cut the hole for the subway. These bits are made to mold from both sides of a piece, so cut halfway finished the plywood from one side, then flip it over to finish the cut. I commend clamping the piece down while you suffice this, because these circle cutters are quite grabby. Also, do non use a circle tender like this in a handheld drill - they want to be fed very precisely into the work, which is basically infeasible (let alone dangerous) to do manually.

If you behind manage it, this circle should be a Piston fit to the composition board tube, with no wiggle room. If it's just slightly large, we tush adjust later. If it's mode big, you'll have to start over on that plywood piece.

Step 6: Cut Tube to Distance

Using the unreal tin as a measure, mark the carboard tube to cut IT to duration. You want it maybe 1/4" less in length than the tin to insure it fits. I used a miter saw to cut the tube to length, though a handsaw will work fine.

Step 7: Cut Clamping Slot in Disks

This next bit is tricky and requires good clamping. To help sustain the plyboard disks on the tube, we're going to cut a relief slot in the disk, which will let a screw to pinch the harrow tight over the tube.

Victimization a plank of enough length to cross the bed of your table saw, clamp the magnetic disk down much that the table saw brand, once raised, will pass over unitary side of the disk, as in the picture. The kerf of the blade removes just enough material that we can pinch the inside starting closed some more, locking into the cardboard thermionic vacuum tube. You start this operation with your mesa proverb blade fully below the table, then round IT on and raise the leaf blade until it cuts through the disk.

Step 8: Lay Out Dowel and Lie with, Cut Dowel to Distance

Next, lay out for the dowel and screw on the plywood disks. The dowel allows for the screw to anchor into the face grain of the dowel, which is much stronger than fastening between the plys of the plywood. This screw is what pinches the disk down around the cardboard phonograph record. Drill a hole for the dowel of an appropriate size, then abbreviate information technology to the same heaviness A the plywood.

Measure 9: Snub Recess for Screw

The make love gets a little recess in the plywood disk so that the head up can sit even connected a bearing opencut. I cut this recess out with a handsaw, then predrilled through the plywood through to the dowel hole. I then glued the joggle in the disk, and restrained to see if the disk properly clamped to the cardboard pipe.

Step 10: Fitting and Final Touches

The fit of the disk around the tube was a trifle open, so I cloaked the end of the tube few times with some masking tape to shim it out. This gives it just enough heaviness.

The final step (optional) is to use a roundover number to simpleness the edges of the plywood. This isn't necessary, but it will stop your hands from getting scratched or cut when you're unspooling the lights.

Step 11: Finished!

After attaching both plyboard disks to the unreal tube, the spool is complete! All that's leftfield to do is wind your Christmas lights around the reel and tuck it in the popcorn atomic number 5 for storage! Then, when information technology comes clock time to ornament again for the holidays, have one individual apply the spool, and another pull the lights polish off, lickety-break up.

If you enjoyed this Instructable, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more!

Be the First to Parcel

Recommendations

  • Anything Goes Contest 2022

    Anything Goes Contest 2022