Alright, so let me tell you about this aluminum water hose reel I put together. My old plastic one, you know the type, it just completely fell apart on me. The handle snapped, bits of plastic everywhere. I was pretty fed up with those flimsy things.

Deciding to Go Custom

I figured, why not try and build something myself? Something that would actually last. Aluminum seemed like a good bet – strong, doesn't rust, pretty light. So, the project was on: an aluminum water hose reel. I wasn't aiming for anything fancy, just functional and tough.

Getting the Bits and Pieces

First job was to get the materials. I headed down to a local metal supplier. Found some decent aluminum square tubing for the frame and some flat stock for the reel part. Didn't cost an arm and a leg, which was nice. I also needed a handful of nuts, bolts, and washers. I already had a basic set of tools, my trusty drill, a hacksaw, that sort of stuff.

I didn’t really have a proper plan drawn out. More like a picture in my head and a few scribbles on a piece of paper. I just kind of knew how I wanted it to look and work.

The Actual Build Process

Okay, so then the real work started. Cutting aluminum with a hacksaw isn't the quickest job, let me tell you. My arms were definitely feeling it afterwards. Drilled all the holes for the bolts. Had to be careful to get them lined up, more or less.

I started by building the main frame.

• Cut the pieces for the base and the uprights.
• Drilled the connection points.
• Bolted it all together, making sure it was reasonably square and stable.

Next up was the reel itself, the drum part where the hose wraps around. This was a bit trickier. I used some wider flat aluminum. I had to carefully bend it to shape. Let’s just say my first attempt wasn’t perfectly round, but it was good enough. Then I made some side plates to hold the hose on the drum. Bolted those to the drum.

For the crank, I just used a piece of solid aluminum rod. Bent one end to make a handle. Simple, but it works. The axle for the reel to spin on was another piece of rod. I had to make sure it spun freely inside some holes I drilled in the frame's uprights.

Hitting a Few Snags

It wasn’t all smooth sailing, of course. I definitely drilled one or two holes in the wrong place. Had to re-drill, which is always a bit annoying. And getting the actual water connection sorted, so the hose could connect to the reel and still turn, took a bit of fiddling. I used a standard brass swivel connector for that, mounted through one of the side plates of the reel.

The main thing was making sure it was strong enough. I didn't want it wobbling all over the place when I pulled the hose. I added an extra brace here and there just to be sure.

The Final Result

After a good few hours of cutting, drilling, and bolting, it was finally done. Stood back and had a look. Not bad, if I do say so myself. It’s got that rugged, homemade charm, you know?

I mounted it to the wall by the tap. Wound the hose on. Gave it a test. Pulled the hose out, wound it back in. It worked great! So much better than those rickety plastic things. This one feels like it’ll last for years.

It’s pretty satisfying to build something useful with your own hands. Even if it's just a hose reel. Definitely a good weekend project, and I learned a bit more about working with aluminum. Beats buying new plastic junk every couple of years, that’s for sure.