A few months ago, I posted about an online find – the RoboReel. Frankly, my initial impression was not all that positive. It seemed to me that $300 was a bit spendy for what looks like an all plastic cord reel worthy of being called a “power tool.” I just didn’t see the value there… or the need.
Fast forward a couple of months and my phone rings. On the other end, is the fella responsible for RoboReel. To put it bluntly, he’s pissed. He didn’t like the responses he read on the forum and wanted to hand over a RoboReel to prove how wrong we all were. I stuck my tail between my legs and agreed… and the next thing I knew, I was looking at a RoboReel mounted proudly on my shop ceiling.
I say “proudly,” because this thing is big… and safety orange… and plastic… Frankly, it was everything I was afraid it was going to be. But, I decided to give it a shot anyhow. That was about six weeks ago. I can now say that I was almost completely wrong about the RoboReel.
In the past, I’ve always used your typical Craftsman power cord reels. Mine are mounted on the ceiling and are spring loaded like just about all standard reels. They’ve never really been a problem for me apart from when they reel too loosely from time-to-time and I have to manually reel and unreel them back to happiness. No big deal. I mean, they are just cord reels – right? What’s to improve?
The RoboReel isn’t really a solution to a problem I had. Or, at least, not to a problem I was aware of. Essentially, it’s a reel built into a sphere that allows 360-degrees of coverage. On top of that, it has a self contained motor that reels in the cord for you – no springs. This allows the cord to be “programmed” as to how far it reels in and at what speed. So, to use the cord you simply pull it out as you would on any standard cord reel. But, once you are done with the cord you simply press a button on the power receptacle and it reels itself back into the above mentioned sphere – nice and slow and with zero “whiplash” and no tangles.
I’m having a hard time expressing why exactly this motorized mechanism is so much better than a standard spring loaded reel, but to me… Well, I really like this damned thing. It’s a shop convenience that you can take for granted… And, to me, that’s the best kind.
Of course, it’s still plastic and it’s still orange. I can imagine a limited edition RoboReel in cast aluminum – space aged and art deco all at the same time. It would probably cost a grand or so, but it would be a thing of beauty and last longer than any motor it hid inside. One can dream, right?
But that does bring us to the cost of this big plastic power ball of convenience. Is it worth $300?
Before using one for a month or so, I would have told you, “absolutely not.” Now, I’m not so sure. I paid $150 for my standard reels and this unit is definitely $150 better. My old reels now feel cheep and cumbersome. I don’t know that I can go back to them. I know… I know… I’m well aware of the fact that I sound crazy. I know this is a hard sell as I’ve been on the other side, but I really do like this reel THAT much.
In any case, if you are in the market for a reel you can find the ceiling mounted unit here. And the floor model here.
