I bought my bobbin winder when I bought my HQ16. It is NOT a sidewinder but something that can easily do the class M bobbin my HQ takes as well as bobbins for my regular sewing machine. Since this was years ago there was any way to slow down the winder ... then I saw a pedal that the winder could plug into and I could use like the a sewing machine pedal. Now I can regulate the speed of the winder.

Now the same winder does have a speed control built in. Wish I had that years ago. Oh well.

ali

I'm not sure what size bobbin your machine uses. My Voyager uses an L bobbin, but other long arms use an M bobbin. Most of the LA sites also sell bobbin winders. I have one that was made by Hinterberg. They were bought out by Nolting, so they may be selling it. It does a really good job and has a foot feed. Check out some of the sites.

This may seem like a stupid suggestion, but I don't have a sidewinder. I fill about 10-15 bobbins full before I start quilting on my sewing machine. It drove me nuts to be quilting along and then have to refill my bobbin. This was my solution. You know how many bobbins you go through for your quilt, wind about as many as you think you will need.

Here's a link for the one I use for my Voyager. I paid $99 for it when I bought it a number of years ago and, of course, it has gone up, but not as much as some of the commercial winders. It has a foot feed with it. Does not have the variable speed, but I've never needed it. It's just a bit more than the more expensive sidewinders and you can use the large cones.
http://www.hinterberg.com/prod-Bobbin_Winder-237.aspx

Yes, you can use the large cones with these bobbin winders. I just use my thread stand next to the winder and hit the button. I also hold the button down to fill bobbins up more when needed.

You know you can tighten down the tension knob (that the thread goes around)? And when the winding automatically stops, just flip back the guide arm and hold the power button down manually to get the bobbin to it's fullest. I love mine..sometimes I grab and let the battery do the job; but if I want to wind a lot of bobbins, I do it electrically.

Toni C: I wrap my thread around tension discs twice to tighten tension also.