Bobbins - which are which
 

I'm cleaning, I know, I know, weird huh!! But am finding lots of bobbins all over the place. I know you need certain bobbins for certain machines. But how do you tell which are which once they are away from the packaging? I have metal and plastic. Some with lots of round holes, some with a little square hole and some with a ribbed/rough top and bottom??????? Which is which and which are for what?? Is there a chart?

If your instruction manual does not say "exactly" which bobbin to use - (or you can't find it in the book)

Hmmm... The taller bobbins are usually for oscillating hook machines. And they usually have 10 holes for Singer and other brand machines, or 7 holes for Berninas. ...although there are some drop-in Singer machines that take the 10-hole bobbin. And the bobbins for oscillating hooks sometimes don't have any holes. If they're rounded on both ends, they are for the older Singers -- although some older Singers do take the 10-hole bobbins. Plastic bobbins are usually for Viking, Husqvarna, Pfaff, Janome and BabyLock. ...and all of the new, cheap Singer and Brother machines. Viking/Husqvarna bobbins are very specific, and have the logo on the plastic. So if it's metal, it's from something older or a Bernina. Singer Featherweights have a short bobbin with lots of holes. Older Vikings have a specific metal bobbin, that's usually flat on both sides, with a little slot.

It's so confusing!

When you put the bobbin in the bobbin case, it should spin freely, and have a very small space above the bobbin, and not have a lot of extra space on the sides.

I'm very careful keeping bobbins separate for my Janome, Kenmore and Brother embroidery machines. I'm not an organized type person but this I'm careful about.

When I wind a new bobbin for which ever machine I put it on the threader and put a dot of nail polish for that machine.
I have red for the singer, green for the brother, and I keep them in the bobbin box with those poney tail bands that I get at the Dollar General. They too come in color and I pick out the color for that machine.

Yes marking the bobbins to the machine would be the best way I think. I have 2 machines, but the bobbins all look different. The Pfaff has plastic bobbins my one Bernina takes metal bobbins and my other Bernina takes the Big Bobbins. I do keep them in special areas with the machines and they each have their own containers. I like the donut holders that stop the thread from unwinding.

This is a problem for me also. Having moved several times and having a number of machines has made the matching process sometimes difficult. I do try to keep my bobbins in separate containers for each machine but the moves have caused some disruption. Hope you (and I) can get them straightened out.

Bearisgray, thanks so much for that link!

Hope you find an organizational system to manage these - one thought, of course I have two machines that use the same plastic bobbin and one that uses the metal, so I don't have the problem. But, I do have embroidery bobbin thread on some and normal thread on others. To distinguish, all embroidery bobbins have a black dot on them. Maybe you can color code them by machine. The other thing I got rid of was having so many bobbins filled with thread I may never use again, or anytime soon. Some one on this board, many moons ago, mentioned using up the bobbins, using them as the thread and the bobbin when piecing. So I have done that and it has become a very manageable thing in my sewing room.

Thank you bearisgrey!!!! That is perfect! Well, maybe not perfect but tremendously helpful!!

Plastic are usually top loading and plastic bobbin cases and metal are usually for front loading metal bobbin cases. Its one of the many reasons I stick with my one brand of machines