Easiest way to unspool RG59 cable

[SEANHAWG 1]

I know this is a fairly basic question but I am the type of person who likes to know about all of the little things that can save me time. I sell RG59 siamese cable to my customers at their specified lengths. If I need to get say a 50' length off of my 1000' spool, do they make some sort of reel that will unwind that 50' into a perfect circle? Right now I am doing it by hand and I have to go slow in order to get a good round circle of cable. I know this sounds like a basic question but when you have several orders to fill and then you have lengths like 300' to unwind, the cable can start to get in a mess if I get in a hurry. Can anyone make any suggestions on some good reels?

[scorpion 0]

You can talk to electricians, and the cable company, and the cable company subcontractors to see if they will keep the reels or spools for you. You can probably dumpster dive also.

 

As for anything around 50 feet I think the hand wind would be best. I would not want to put it on too small of a spool as the windings would be too small and making the cable curly for the customer.

 

For large runs you can make a pair of horizontal bars to place a spool on each and pull the wire to the other spool.

 

Go to the giant hardware store and see their set up and how they count off the feet.

[Soundy 1]

Go to the giant hardware store and see their set up and how they count off the feet.

Most of them out here use something like this:

 

...combined with one of these to measure the pull:

 

Put them all together and you get:

(These pictures come from www.taymer.com)

[scorpion 0]

prick your finger on that and you become sleeping beauty!

 

Great photo demonstration!

[Soundy 1]

Thanks, I was in AV Club

[scorpion 0]

Are you old enough to work with the old 35mm film and have to catch the projector before it ate the film, or are you young and just popped in DVDs?

[Soundy 1]

35mm, pfft, our little rural school could only afford 8mm. Then we got our table-sized, top-loading VHS player...

[clearsignal 0]

35mm, pfft, our little rural school could only afford 8mm. Then we got our table-sized, top-loading VHS player...

That's funny! I still remember our schools monster sized vintage Sony U-Matic 3/4" decks.

[Soundy 1]

Hey, U-Matic was the mainstay of the broadcast industry until barely 10 years ago.

[SEANHAWG 1]

Sweet contraption.

 

Thanks!

[survtech 0]

Here's a better way:

 

[SEANHAWG 1]

Was that you survtech? LOL

[survtech 0]

No, but I have been known to lose control of a roll on occasion!

 

Seriously, wire/cable pulling is a pain in the butt. Spools require reel cart or caddy and someone to tension the cable spool or it tends to backlash and snarl or come off the roll. Spools also are not suitable for pulling from within a cable tray. Boxed cable tends to knot during pulls and get stuck in the box. We're going to try West Penn's "Advantage Box" to see how easily that unspools and if it can be placed in the tray.

 

Here's an idea for an invention if someone has the inclination and time: design an anti-backlash mechanism for cable caddies.