The over and under method mentioned above works and is also the one used by
commercial fishermen.
If you want an automated method, hoses and ropes will tend to coil
themselves in a (nearly) tangle-free pattern if simply fed into a
rectangular box of the appropriate size. The box size is largely a matter
of trial and error but should be as small as is practical for the particular
application. HUMOROUS WARNING: if the content of your box is dangerously
unwieldly, such as springy plastic hose or wire, don't be a fool and open it
(insert picture of snake-in-a-can here)...
Of course the best way to deal with hose is to wind it onto a spool, such as
the ones used on fire trucks.
Henry Kroll
Inventor, Writer, Web Server Operator, Fish Boat Captain
www.comptune.com
Post by Desert TravelerPost by Jed MargolinPost by Peterthinkingsomeone wanted to know how to coil hoses/cables so that when you
picked
Post by Desert Travelerup
Post by Jed MargolinPost by Peterthinkingthe end from the coil and stretched it out the hose/cable laid out
flat
Post by Desert Travelerwith
Post by Jed MargolinPost by Peterthinkingno kinks.
anyway I found the article in an old popular mechanics describing it
and
Post by Desert Travelerif
Post by Jed MargolinPost by Peterthinkingyou still want it I'll make a little diagram of how to coil it up and
post
Post by Jed MargolinPost by Peterthinkingit.
Peter
sorry about the cross posting....couldn't remember what group I saw the
request in.
You alternate clockwise loops with counterclockwise loops, commonly
called inside loops and outside loops because of how the cable crosses
itself.
It's an old radioman's trick for coiling cable. (I learned it from an
old radioman.)
JM
I learned about it at commercial diving school. We used it for diving hoses
and for wire rope. You can coil hoses one coil over, one coil under, or if
you figure eight it, it will come off with no kinks. It is easy to show the
one over one under, but hard to describe it.
Steve