I have had no prob with my metallics from Metro. I place the spool away from the machine, let it unwind from the top thru an eyelet in my thread stand, over to the machine and thread as usual. One of my machines I cannot even slow the speed on and I have no breakage. However, I DO run a few lines of 'sewer's aid' (no..I stopped buying that & use plain mineral oil instead!) For yrs I had been afraid of metallics, but now I enjoy using them. I fill an eyedrop bottle w/ mineral oil and keep by each machine.