Bobbin Winders
 

I was told by someone recently that you should not use the bobbin winder on your sewing machine, that it does something to the machine. You should use a bobbin winder. I haven't looked into bobbin winders yet but this person said that a friend of theirs uses a bobbin winder that cost $125.00. Has anyone ever heard this before? And what do you think of bobbin winders?

Hmmm. Was this person who told you this also trying to sell you the bobbin winder??? If it "does something" to the machine, then why are the machines designed and manufactured with this feature? Smells like horse manure to me.

I agree with peckish, and want to further comment....there are some great bobbin winders out there for $20/30
http://www.joann.com/wrights-sidewin...te/xprd315882/

i have a fancier one that I need for winding my Long Arm bobbins cause they do not wind bobbins on the machine.

Now I will say, I use my Embroidery/Sewing combo machine to wind bobbins, it does it with a simple click rather than being run via the foot pedal. I find that the bobbins are wound more consistently and work better than the foot pedal ones. But that is me :)

And whomever told you that, they may not know there are other options.

Btw....the $100 bobbin winders that I have seen are the long arm ones that have speed control to ensure that the bobbins have perfect tension......cause with LA's it is ALL about the tension!

I don't think I would listen to anything that person says. Some people like to get separate bobbin winders for various reasons (such as for a longarm, or because the bobbin winder on their sewing machine is broken), but I've never heard of a bobbin winder doing "something" to a machine. Maybe sometime, somewhere, (in a galaxy far far away?) there was a sewing machine that didn't get along with its bobbin winder, and that's the cause of this advice?

The person who told me this, her friend does have a Long Arm and maybe the friend was talking about her Long Arm and not a regular sewing machine. I'm not going to pay over $100.00 for a bobbin winder. And as long as I have been sewing my machines have always ran good. Just wanted to know if anyone else heard of this. Thanks for the information. I may just buy one of the cheaper bobbin winders because it is a pain to stop and wind bobbins in the middle of a project.

I have bobbin winders from K-Kraft and they are wonderful. I also have the bobbin winder that came with my Babylock Crown Jewel, also wonderful. The Crown Jewel does not have a bobbin winder on the machine. I really like my bobbin winders but I do not see why you can not use the bobbin winder on your machine. I just think it is personal thing.

I didn't have much luck using the SideWinder bobbin winder. I have a Bernina, and I can only use their bobbins, so don't know if that's the problem, but anyway, I wind all my bobbins on the machine now.

For the past 4 years I have used a side winder from JoAnn's $25 with coupon and love, love, love, it!!! I have a 1926 singer treadle, an Elna from the 30's, Sears Kenmore from 50's, Janome from 1996 and a 2010 Tin Lizzy (Tin lizzy's bobbins will only 1/2 fill before turning off). I have never had a problem with bobbins wound on the side winder.

I've sewn for years and always used the bobbin winder on my machine. Never had an issue!

The SideWinder bobbin winder will not work if you have a Viking machine. I've been using my machines to wind bobbins for over 50 years and have several brands of machines and I've never had a problem.

My friend has a machine with a bobbin winder on her machine but she insists on using her battery operated one because she finds it difficult threading the machine because of poor eye sight. Another friend can't understand why she uses it when there is a good winder on her machine. I have one and would throw it through the nearest window if I ever used it again.reason it makes such a mess of the winding and takes so long..we all have our own reasons to use what we do.

I have a bobbin winder- only use it sometimes.
I usually by by bobbins prewound. 8 or 10 bobbins for around $5.50. They seem to last a long time. Guess I do not quilt enough because a package last me about a year.
They are the Class 15 style - 100% cotton.
I know I can order online cheaper- but then you have to get so many of them.

the older sewing machines had the ability to disengage the needle head from the wheel, so when you wound the bobbin, you weren't 'sewing'. Some of the newer machines don't have this feature so you 'air sew' when you wind the bobbin. My mom got one of the newer machines and was used to the older version and was very concerned about running her machine excessively when winding a bobbin. Don't know if this is why your friend made the comment. Don't think it actually hurts the machine, although I did get a stand alone winder for my long arm because it was disconcerting!

The Pfaff 2140 had a bad bobbin winding system. Pfaff did issue a fix, but the Sidewinder does a better job. The 2144 does not have this problem. (both have vertical bobbins)

The Sidewinder is still handy. I always forget to wind extra bobbins for almost all sewing, so I use the Sidewinder rather than disrupt the threading - although you can wind those Pfaffs through the needle. The Sidewinder takes almost every bobbin, I have a collection of old metal ones that I use for the serger. You can wind specialty threads for a small job with the loopers, or one bobbin will do a Tshirt on the needle side.

Thanks Mighty, I got a bobbin winder with my Innova....LOVE the Innova, the bobbin winder not so much! I think I will order a K-Kraft. They look sturdy...and I won't have to wait 5 mins to get a bobbin!

http://fancyquilt.com

I paid $20.00 for mine, works fine. Haven't had any problems with it winding, or when sewing with the bobbins. Its gone up in price tho, but not more than $10.00.

I have a Pfaff and the sidewinder does not work for its bobbins. It winds them the wrong direction. I've tried turning the bobbin upside down but it still doesn't work.

I improved the first version of the Sidewinder. Take the screws out and put heavy weight (I found a piece of heavy metal in DH's shop that fit) in the case. It keeps the winder very sturdy and upright. Also remember the knob, that has no marking at all what it is, will adjust the tension of the winding. I haven't seen the newer model of the Sidewinder.

I was surprised how many do not know that in some older machines you have to turn the wheel on the fly wheel to disengage the clutch so the needle won't sew when winding a bobbin.

I have a Pfaff and a sidewinder and have never had a problem with either winding the bobbins. Or having them wound backwards.

I also have this side winder - got it as a giftie from a fellow quilt buddy. Don't know what I'd do without it! It's quick and convenient!

I have the SideWinder from JoAnn's and I love it. I added more bobbins to my collection and do up about 15 extra bobbins and always have them on hand - until, of course, I run out and then it is a nice relaxing time, just making up more bobbins. It goes fast, and if you can't be right on top of it, it stops automatically when the bobbin is filled. Very simple, very easy. I have had mine for about five years now and haven't had one smidgeon of trouble and if I did, I wouldn't think twice about getting another one.

Oh, yah, I heard the same thing about not using your bobbin winder on your machine. So I don't. Maybe it's true, maybe it isn't, but for 50% off on a Sidewinder, it is worth it to me. Happy sewing! Edie

I have 2 Vikings that I wind bobbins for. I bought the SideWinder Deluxe for $30 (regular price is $99), just because I read the same thing. I use it for my Viking 1+ which has a shaped bobbin. They have a special post for them. I tried it, it worked fine, but they also wind on the regular post. I have found that I use a thread stand (I use mostly cones) and wrap the thread twice around the upper arm to get a tight enough tension on the bobbin. I also have the tensioner on the bobbin winder tightened right down. I love mine. I screwed up the tension on my old Viking which I used to wind bobbins for my Bailey. It's fixed now, but I'm not going to do that again.

The Viking 1+ and the Pfaff 2100 series have vertical bobbins. So does the 1500S.
The sidewinders may not work with the newer Pfaffs and Vikings that have drop-in bobbins although they do seem to work with older Babylock and Brother dropins, like the PC 6500 and the Ellure of the same vintage.

Some say that the name on the Pfaff bobbin needs to be on top. I've never noticed. The generic bobbins for the 2100 series aren't labelled and work just fine. The first Pfaff I had, the 1471, made no difference, neither did the 1475.

You ladies are SOOOOO SMART.....This has been a fun read--and I had a LOL moment with Dunster's comment. I don't know how to do the brackets thing to bring it down here for me to show you what she said--you'll have to scroll back up to her posting......I could make all the comments that were made all through this post. Been there, done that, been sewing for 60 years (and have had the LA tension problems big time)......

I'm afraid I have to agree with Peckish. I've been sewing a long time - well before bobbin winders came out. They do do something to your machine - lets it sew.

The Sidewinder kept my 10 year old DGD busy all summer long. When she left I had a shoe box full of wound bobbins. We bought every bobbin Walmart had in stock that summer. LOL My guild is still using the bobbins for handsewing.

Thank for tip on weight of sidewinder. My older model of Viking has a better bobbin system than the "now" machines have....get to bobbin from side not top, could do a bobbin while still keeping work under needle in progress and use other thread to wind bobbin. I too dislike having to remove thread from paths, do bobbin, then retread.... I try to wind a whole donut of bobbins. Either before start of sewing day begins or at end....I do most of my everyday bobbins in white or off white for piecing.......

Off topic.... if you click "reply with quote" button at the bottom of the post you want to quote, you will get the brackets thing. :)

I never heard of such a thing regarding using your machine winder.. I do have two bobbin winders and I love them..They are very handy to have because they save time. I paid less than 20 dollars for them. Never heard of one for 125.00

There is a SideWinder Deluxe $99 range at Jo ann's. I did purchase that model, the smaller $25 w/coupon version did not work with my Pfaff 2044, I like my Bobbin Winder, I prefer just to sit and make a plethora of bobbins at the beginning of a project. The deluxe will work with the bobbins from my Singer 15-91 too.
i had heard that using the bobbin winder on the machine did put wear and tear on the motor, can't tell you wear i heard it...it did not make a whole lot of sense to me, but in an effort to savior my machine i do use the Winder.
I think my machine may have the ability to fill a bobbin from the spool while sewing or something to that effect... need to study up on that option.

I think that person was selling you a bill of goods. I do not have a bobbin winder and wind all my bobbins on my machine, it's been working for me for over 40 years, so if it "ain't broke, I'm not going to fix it".

I have a bobbin winder that was a total waste of money. Would NEVER buy another one.

I've been sewing for over 40 years, and IMHO, the way a bobbin is wound is more important than what winds it. It needs to be wound smoothly, evenly, and with consistent tension. Otherwise, you can come up with all kinds of problems. If you have a sewing machine that does that, use it and don't waste your money. I've always used the machine I was sewing on. If your sewing machine doesn't wind properly, you can either get it fixed, or buy one of those little bobbin winders. Your choice. But my point is: no way is a normal sewing machine NOT able to wind bobbins properly if running properly.

I have three Bernina machines... the 153 QE is the oldest and I've used the bobbin winder on it many many times over the years. I also have a 440QEE and a 530 which I use the bobbin winders on and I have never had a problem with any of them. I have friends who have other types of machines and they don't have any problems either so I don't know why anyone would say something like this.

Thats the way my Old Faithful does..disengage from the needle head, I think I'd be completely confused if I got a machine that air sewed lol. Course it's not hard to confuse me.:p

The one thing that I LOVE about my 70's Singer Touch N Sew is that I don't have to unthread or even take the bobbin out to wind it. It has been a work horse over the years but don't use it much anymore for lack of needle down and the feed dogs don't drop.

I think the person who told you that is Koo Koo for Coco Puffs. :p

Will he sidewinder wind size L bobbins for the Brother PR650e embroidery machine? There is no winder on this machine and I buy prewound for white and black but would like to be able to wind a few colored ones to match my quilt backing when I am using embroidery as part of my quilting.

I've been sewing on various machines for over forty years, and I've never had a problem with a binder winder!

So, you wrap the thread around the arm on the cone holder before threading it thru the tension disc on your machine? I'm going to try that because I can't get a bobbin to wind correctly using thread from my cone stand which is a bummer.