If you accumulate project material like we do, you’ve probably got a heap of half-empty wire spools from junk shops taking up space in a box or on a desk. We’ve got a simple solution for you: a small flat piece of metal or wood, some tape, some felt feet, and a rod. Read on for details.

We begin with our heaviest spool of wire and add some felt feet to it, and tape some flat object to the bottom to cover up the hole.

(We used a hard drive platter cap, but you could use whatever flat thing you have on hand.) Then, insert an aluminum tube in the hole. We happened to have a three foot long, half-inch aluminum tube with 1/16″ walls that didn’t get used for another project, but you could use a wooden dowel or any other slender rod you have on hand. We added spools until we reached the top, and successfully got thirteen spools of wire out of the way.

You don’t need horizontal storage space like you would for more traditional over-the-desk racks. You can also accommodate much larger spools and keep them next to or even on your workbench. If you stack it all the way to the top, you don’t even risk poking your eye out with the rod. It doesn’t scratch our floor, and lets us keep a rather tall stack of wire out of the way in the corner while still keeping it accessible. It is remarkably stable and incredibly handy.