I have seen the Towa bobbin tension gauges, and they look to be a very useful gadget, but how many of you have one, and if you do, do you use it regularly?

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I couldn't live without my TOWA. Every bobbin I use gets tested for tension.

I have one for my 6 needle embroidery machine and use it. Works great and easy to use.

I was just at the quilt show in Pheonixville, PA and was having a long arm demo on the A-1. The tension was a bit off and I asked the woman about it. She got out her TOWA and demonstrated how it was used. Seemed really cool! Wish there was one for my Pfaff!

I do not and have been quilting for 15 years.Hadn't even heard of it till on this board.

We actually sell them at my shop but teh experienced long armers tell us that we don't need them..to save our 80$ SO I guess it just depends on the person.

Yes but some experienced longarmers will eyeball a quilt top to see if it's on perfectly straight too... and some of us will measure it. :mrgreen:

Just sayin'...

I can't afford it!

I know that there are at least two different sizes, this one is the smaller of the two, but I'm not sure if it is for regular domestic machines, you would have to check to see if your bobbin case is an 'L'.

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Thank you everyone who took the trouble to reply. I think I will wait for a little while until my HQ16 has arrived, to see how it performs, before I go ahead.