Cable drums are essential to ensure onsite safety when working with large quantities of wiring. It is most common to see cable drums of electrical wires on building sites and on underground construction sites, but they can be used to store and transport any form of wire, from reels of copper to electrical and even fibre optic cables.
Cable drums come in a range of sizes from small reels that can be carried around in one hand to large drums that need to be mounted on a cable stand or rack in order to dispense the cable. Cable drums prevent cables from becoming tangled which saves time and wastage of wire. Cable drums also remove the risk of tripping over large coils of wire on the floor. Cable drums also allow all types of wire to be stored neatly when not in use.

Cable drums are made out of four different types of materials

• Wood
• Plywood
• Plastic
• Steel

Wood Cable Drums

There are three varieties of wooden cable drum. The first is steel-tyred which allows the drum to be used multiple times. The second is for exporting and shipping wiring to different countries and clients and the third is a one-way drum that is used for a single trip.

Wooden cable drums are used to carry heavy loads of wiring as they are made from resinous wood. They are cheap to purchase but they are also the type of cable drum that is often stolen from construction sites due to their round shape and their popularity among students as a cheap form of furniture.

Plywood Cable Drums

Plywood cable drums are used to move lighter cable loads than wooden cable drums. They are the cheaper alternative to other types of cable drums and are used in the building industry and by commercial electricians. Made from plywood or birch, they are light and strong but are single-use drums that are destroyed once they have been used.

Plastic Cable Drums

Made from recycled plastic, plastic cable drums are environmentally friendly and ideal for light weight cables and wiring. Overall they weigh less than other cable drums and they are the only type of cable drum that can be used in industries with high requirements of hygiene and health standards, such as the medical technology field.

Plastic cable drums can be used to wind fine and thin wiring of copper and steel, electric cables, monofilament, welding wires and medical equipment cabling.

Steel Cable Drums

Steel cable drums are the preferred type of cable drum in major industries rather than plywood or wooden cable drums. Though wooden drums still exist, steel drums have been made to replace the wooden ones.

Steel cable drums have also been designed and produced as collapsible steel reels and collapsible steel drums. They have a longer life than plywood and wooden drums and are manufactured in an eco-friendly manner. Steel cable drums are harder to steal than wooden cable drums and do not make quite such fetching furniture.

Steel cable drums and reels can be loaded with a wide range of different cables from light wire through to heavy cables and is known as a multi-purpose reel.

Cable drum stands are exactly what they sound like – stands that cable drums are mounted on in order to dispense wire from.  There are a wide variety of different types of cable stands that are designed for use in different situations and to carry drums with different, diameters, widths and weights.

Cable Reel Stand

Cable reel stands are designed to allow mounted cable reels to rotate so that the cable can be unreeled whilst keeping the drum in a stable position. Cable reel stands are often floor mounted in order to maintain stability. For heavy cable loads and larger drums two or more cable reel stands can be used.

Cable reel stands mount a drum using spindles that are locked into place with pins and often come with lifting lugs at either end of the spindle to aid in the mounting process. These types of cable stands are also very effective cable dispenser stands and can be used both indoors and outdoors.

A “cable spool stand” is another term for cable drum stands because wooden cable drums are often referred to as spools. A quick search on eBay will reveal wooden cable drums listed for sale under cable spool and highlight their popularity for use as furniture. Some examples of different cable drum stands are as follows.

Cable drum roller stands are very different in design to cable reel stands. Instead of using spindles to mount the drum on the stand, a cable drum roller stand has revolving rollers at either side of the base that are adjustable so that drums of different sizes can be mounted on the same stand.

Improvements in the design of cable drum roller stands means that the cable drum will not slip out of the stand whilst the rollers are in motion and some frames even include lateral guide devices that enable the cable drum to safely and easily be put into position on the frame.

Cable roller stands are often stronger in their construction but light enough so they can easily be moved around when necessary. These type of stands are often designed to be used only indoors in a controlled environment, unlike other cable stands. Some roller stands are designed to be used in conjunction with other stands. Redmond Gary Australia Pty LTD offer an 8-tonne cable roller stand that is to be used to conjunction with the cable cut-to-length system.

There are some how-to guides on the internet to show how you can construct your own cable drum stands, however this isn’t something that we recommend, especially if you are going to be using the cable drum stands for commercial or industrial use.

What is recommended is using a licensed and experienced cable drum manufacturer like Redmond Gary Australia Pty LTD, because not only do they design and manufacturer their equipment to meet the highest safety standards, they also provide a 12 month warranty on parts and labour in accordance with their guarantee and sales conditions.

There are a number of cable drum stand suppliers to choose from, but it is normally best to buy from a supplier that not only sells cable drum stands but manufacturers them as well. Any offer of warranty on the equipment you are buying is also invaluable, especially when completing commercial and industrial contracts. The last thing you need is to be spending money replacing faulty equipment when it is covered by warranty.

Redmond Gary Australia Pty LTD have many different cable drum stands for sale that they manufacture and offer warranty on.