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I use a self winding plastic clothes line like this one
Everbilt 40 ft. Retractable Clothesline-72917 - The Home Depot
attached to the ceiling above my workbench. I added a Velcro cable tie like these
https://buycableties.com/collections/velcro
to the end loop piece of the clothes line so I can attach it to the middle of the hose and power cords to hold them above the work bench and out of the way, I use additional Velcro cable ties to bundle the power cord and vacuum hose together at several points.
It's quite easy to add or remove a turn or two of spring tension to this clothes line to get
just the right amount of lifting on the hose and power cable so they float above the bench and don't drag, yet not strong enough to lift the tool. It only takes me a minute or so to bundle the tool power cord and vacuum hose and attach the end of the clothes line to the middle of the working loop and be ready to begin sanding or routing. I only needed to loosen the clothes line tension by one wrap to get mine adjusted to be "just right". I left the plastic loop fitting on the end of the clothes line because It also acts as a good rewind stop and a place to hook onto if your shop ceiling is higher than mine.
A cup hook screwed into the end of a 1/2" or larger dowel rod can be used to hook onto the loop end of the clothes line to pull it down from the ceiling when you want to use it. I can reach the end of the hanging Velcro strip, so I don't need the dowel rod hook system, but some of you with higher shop ceilings might need it. When not in use, the small clothes line reel attached to the ceiling is the only indication that this system even exists. I frequently have new visitors to my shop ask why it is there, and then are very impressed when I demonstrate it.
Charley
Everbilt 40 ft. Retractable Clothesline-72917 - The Home Depot
attached to the ceiling above my workbench. I added a Velcro cable tie like these
https://buycableties.com/collections/velcro
to the end loop piece of the clothes line so I can attach it to the middle of the hose and power cords to hold them above the work bench and out of the way, I use additional Velcro cable ties to bundle the power cord and vacuum hose together at several points.
It's quite easy to add or remove a turn or two of spring tension to this clothes line to get
just the right amount of lifting on the hose and power cable so they float above the bench and don't drag, yet not strong enough to lift the tool. It only takes me a minute or so to bundle the tool power cord and vacuum hose and attach the end of the clothes line to the middle of the working loop and be ready to begin sanding or routing. I only needed to loosen the clothes line tension by one wrap to get mine adjusted to be "just right". I left the plastic loop fitting on the end of the clothes line because It also acts as a good rewind stop and a place to hook onto if your shop ceiling is higher than mine.
A cup hook screwed into the end of a 1/2" or larger dowel rod can be used to hook onto the loop end of the clothes line to pull it down from the ceiling when you want to use it. I can reach the end of the hanging Velcro strip, so I don't need the dowel rod hook system, but some of you with higher shop ceilings might need it. When not in use, the small clothes line reel attached to the ceiling is the only indication that this system even exists. I frequently have new visitors to my shop ask why it is there, and then are very impressed when I demonstrate it.
Charley
