I had a bunch of mason’s twine that I used laying out my garden this year. Unfortunately, the twine was on a cheap cardboard tube. When I re-wound the twine onto the cardboard spool, it didn’t stay where I wanted. I thought I’d wrap it onto a dowel instead. Wouldn’t you know it, I was out. But this was a perfect opportunity to dig out my lathe and make my own spool. I must admit, I’m out of practice. But I think it turned out well enough.
I started off with a scrap piece of 2×2 pine. With my roughing gouge I turned it round. Then I marked the inside of the spool with a pencil. I didn’t have any measurements. I just went with what looked good.
With my parting tool, I took the center down to 7/8″. Then I shaped the ends to something that looked nice. Both ends were far from symmetrical, but I got into the ballpark.
I sanded with 100, 150, 250 grit sandpaper. I used a wire-burning tool to add a bit of flair to the finial. I used paste wax for the finish, applied with a paper towel.
While the spool was on the lathe, I wound the string. With the parting tool, I finished off the end and removed it from the lathe.
The project only took about 30-40 minutes. Its far from perfect, but it looks decent and works even better. A quick project to scratch that turning itch.