A winding reel which can be placed on another similar free winding reel so that they can be stored or carried in a comparatively small space and is convenient to carry or handle. The winding reel includes a hollow core section, and first and second flange sections provided at the opposite ends of the core section. The core section includes four core wire pieces extending in an axial direction thereof. The first flange section includes a first flange wire piece extending radially outwardly from a first end of each of the core wire pieces in a plane perpendicular to the axis and a connection wire piece for connecting outer ends of adjacent ones of the first flange wire pieces. The second flange section includes a second flange wire piece extending radially outwardly from a second end of each of the core wire pieces in a plane perpendicular to the axis and a third flange wire piece extending radially inwardly from the second end of each of the core wire pieces in the plane perpendicular to the axis. The third flange wire pieces are connected to each other at positions on the inner side of the core section and reinforce the second end of the core section.