Wooden spool held together with novel tie rod assembly and method of assembling the same between a pair of dies

A spool comprising:

• a pair of spaced apart flanges;
• a plurality of elongate rods, each rod extending through the flanges to include a first end on the outside surface of one flange and a non-threaded second end on the outside surface of the other flange, the first ends of the rods including an enlarged structure to engage the flange and provide for axial retention of the rods at the first end;
• a barrel surrounding the rods transversely between the inside surfaces of the flanges;
• a plurality of retaining rings, each retaining ring engaging the second end of one of the rods for retention of the rods;
• and
• wherein the second ends of the rods project axially beyond the entire body of the retaining rings such that the second ends are not substantially flush with the outside surface of said other flange and are not contained within the body of the retaining rings.

A spool comprising:

• first and second flanges in spaced relationship, each flange having a plurality of holes, and a central arbor opening, the holes of the first flange axially aligned with the holes of the second flange, the holes being arranged radially about the central opening;
• a plurality of rods, one for each set of axially aligned holes, each rod extending through one set of holes in the flanges, each rod having an enlarged first end sized greater than its corresponding hole in the first flange, and a non-threaded second end projecting from the second flange;
• a cylindrical barrel sandwiched transversely between the flanges;
• a plurality of retaining rings, one retaining ring axially pressed on the second end of each rod, each retaining ring including an inner peripheral edge engaging the rod and a larger diameter outer peripheral edge axially offset from the inner peripheral edge, the retaining ring having a curved cross section between the inner and outer peripheral edges;
• and
• wherein the rods substantially fill the holes of the second flange such that the retaining rings are disposed entirely outside of the holes of the second flange and do not occupy any space of the holes of the second flange.