oldsewnsew

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see the silver bullet shaped object, under the sliding plate in front of the needle. It's the shuttle, inside of which is a bobbin.

oldsewnsew

There are a variety of sizes and types and variations between different makes.

oldsewnsew

Kind of like the space shuttle, they go back and forth...

mike'sgirl

Thanks for the answer Jim. I get it...kind of like a bobbin case?

oldsewnsew

yes, Interestingly there is at least one early mfr, who used a round bobbin, but on a moving arm like the more typical shuttles. The above is a "vibrating shuttle", you can also find "transverse shuttles" which have a boat shaped bobbin sometimes that moves back and forth. I have wondered if that arrangement made it possible to reverse the stitch...