How to Make a Garden Hose Reel From Wood

There is probably nothing more annoying to the average gardener than having to untangle several coils of hose just to water the garden -- not to mention dragging it out of the vegetable beds to get to the lawn. Commercial hose reels abound, but they are generally either expensive or too flimsy o be worth the bother. However, you can save your money and create something useful and durable instead by making a wooden hose reel.

2 square pieces of ?-inch plywood, 24-by-24 inches

Yardstick

Thumbtack

String, about 18 inches long

Pencil

2 C-clamps

Jigsaw

Drill

1-inch spade bit

8 wooden dowels, 1-inch diameter by 8-inches long

Carpenter's glue

Hammer or wooden mallet

Wood putty

Paint

Find the center of one 24-inch square piece of plywood by drawing an "x" from each top corner to each diagonally opposite corner using a yardstick to make straight lines. The lines intersect at the center.

Attach a piece of string to a thumbtack and stick the pin into the wood at the marked center.

Tie a pencil to the other end of the string, adjusting it so the point just reaches the edge of the plywood when held perpendicular to the surface.

Hold the pencil upright with the string taut to make a compass to draw a 24-inch circle on the plywood using the thumbtack as center.

Measure 4 inches out from the center and draw a second, smaller circle the same way.

Mark each of the four points where the "x" used to find the center point crosses the smaller circle.

Connect each of the four points for a square, then find the mid-points of each side of the square.

Use the yardstick to draw a straight line between and through each opposite pair of midpoints on the square sides -- extending the lines to the small circle. Mark the intersections of the lines with the circle for a new total of eight marked points.

Stack the first piece of plywood on the second and clamp them together with a C-clamp on either side.

Use the large drawn circle as a guide to cut out two plywood circles together with a jigsaw.

Keep the circles clamped together, and use a 1-inch spade bit to drill a hole through both pieces of plywood at each of the eight marked points on the inner circle, and one more hole along the top edge of the bottom circle for hanging the reel.

Unclamp the circles.

Spread a small amount of carpenter's glue around one end of each dowel and place them one at a time in each hole of one plywood circle. Hammer them in until they are flush with the bottom of the plywood.

Add glue to the other ends of the dowels, then put the remaining circle on top, fitting the dowels into place in the holes.

Tap the top circle firmly until the ends of the dowels are flush with the surface of the plywood.

Wipe off excess glue, fill holes in the plywood edges with wood putty and allow the reel to dry for 24 hours.

Paint the reel to seal it.

Hang from a nail or hook on the wall.