J Miller

I have found the cross wound tapered side cones work great from the thread stands, but the cross wound spools with parallel sides such as the C&C quilting thread, Gutermann, and others work better if mounted on the machine on one of my widgets.
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When using it on a thread stand it comes off the spool too easy and the tension suffers.

Also I've found that when using a thread stand, if you use a widget on the spool pin that guides the thread in the same path it would be if the spool was mounted on the machine, that helps a lot more.
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Or one of these replacement spool pins you can get from Sew-Classic.
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Although I don't know if you can get these for FeatherWeights.

If the spool of thread is normal size with a smaller hole in it, there are springs that slide down over the spool pin to slow down the spin of the spool. Sew-Classic has those too.
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Here's a pic of the spring on the right spool pin of my wife's 319K. The cup on the left spool pin was made because the spool kept spinning allowing the thread to fall under it and wrap around the pin then break.

Joe