Cable reel made of plastic canister

I came up with a completely unusual and useful application of a standard plastic canister with a capacity of 5 liters. Below I will tell you in detail how to make a convenient electric extension cord out of it.

What do we need

• Empty canister (from under antifreeze, distilled water, etc.);
• A piece of PCB;
• Sewer plastic pipe with a connecting bell (diameter 50 mm);
• A bolt (M 6) 5 cm long, two nuts (one self-tightening), a piece of a wooden tube (or plastic);
• The plug and the portable socket in the rubberized case;
• Round wire with a cross section of 2.5 mm and a length of 10-15 m;
• Super glue;
• Drill (screwdriver), a set of drills and crowns for wood;
• Electric jigsaw;
• Hacksaw for metal;
• Knife.

Preparatory work

The first step is to drill a hole in the lid of the canister. We select the diameter so that it corresponds to the thickness of the wire (in our case it is 8 mm).
Coil axis: we make a marking, departing from the thick edge of the pipe no more than 1 cm from the rubber seal. Next, measure the segment, the length of which is 5-10 mm more than the thickness of the canister and with a hacksaw we cut the desired fragment. We process the edges of the cut with sandpaper.
Limiting handle: on the sheet of PCB we mark the outer diameter of the thick edge of the pipe and draw an oval pattern around it so that there is about 1 cm between the edge and the marking.
The other side of the oval should narrow, as a result of which the whole structure will resemble a pointer or arrow. First, we cut the hole with a mill, and then with a jigsaw the entire part. Two such pieces will need to be made.
To plug from the other end, we need to mark the inner diameter of the nozzle and the outer dimension of the wide part of the pipe on a sheet of PCB, then cut two circles.
All this must be cleaned with sandpaper and put together using superglue.
After drying, the parts can be spray-painted with spray paint.
In the pipe section, a hole should be drilled for the wire.
Then insert the wide end into the double handle and process the edges with superglue on both sides.
Next, in the narrow part of the part, we drill a hole with a recess for a flat hat, insert it from the side of the pipe, twist the nut, fixing the pin on the plate, and put on the hollow tube.
So that it freely rotates, we do not tighten the self-tightening nut to the end.
Centering the canister: using two diagonals, we find the center of the canister on the side ribs and mark the holes - on the one hand, the diameter is equal to the thickened edge of the pipe (the one where the handle is already glued), and on the other it corresponds to the size of the opposite end of the coil. We cut it out, and we process the edges of the holes with a round file, removing unevenness and scoring.

Assembly

We pass the electric wire from the side of the handle into the axis of the makeshift coil and put it out through the side hole.
Next, we bring it into the canister through the opening under the large edge of the pipe and out through the lid.
We insert the coil, lubricate the round side stop with superglue and glue it to the pipe.
We stretch the wire so that the rubberized socket fits tightly into the pipe.
We put the plug on the other end and wrap the extension cord with the handle. The length of the wire can be 10, 15 and even 25 meters - it all depends on the selected section.
When carrying out work, do not forget to follow the rules for using the power tool and accuracy in handling a sharp knife. The work is not difficult at all, but as a result of an unnecessary canister, we got an original and very convenient extension cord that will serve reliably.