Telling Bobbins Apart
 

I have 3 machines, a Featherweight, a Janome 1600p, and a Bernina 830 Record. They each use a different size metal bobbin but the bobbins look very similar. I don't have many bobbins, 5 - 10 per machine. Any tips or suggestions for making sure I don't mix up the bobbins and put one in the wrong machine? Does any one mark bobbins - like with a dot fingernail polish or a marker?

You could color code them, or you could pick up 3 of those bobbin donuts each a different color to hold them. I have 3 machines with different bobbins, mine are kept in a small square tin (each machine has its own tin) and I keep the bobbins with the machine tools,notions,and manual all together. Which ever machine I am going to use has everything for that machine together.

The FW bobbins are easy to spot - they are much thinner than the other bobbins. I keep all of my bobbins separated with the machines they go with. But the 15-91 bobbins are metal and my Janome bobbins are plastic. I can't imagine putting a dab of paint or fingernail polish would harm a bobbin.

I have two machines -- I keep the bobbins in separate areas, in labeled pencil boxes. Love this time of year -- need to go school shopping to pick up unusual pencil boxes. I always find a use for them.

I used my paint pins to mark each machine a different color. Even the ones that look the same are different.

How do you tell bobbins that you have acquired fit what machine. I have a featherweight, Janome 10000, an American Home (Made by Necchi I am told) and a Singer (not sure of model). I got a whole bunch of bobbins at an auction with some other things, and am hoping that some will fit at least one or two of my machines, but how do I tell short of trying each bobbin in the machine itself. Can anyone give any advice on that? I have taken a marker and marked on the plastic bobbins with a small dot for my Janome and a letter for the other machine bobbins that I have. It doesn't need to be a big mark, just something you can see and it hasn't affected the sewing in any way.

I'm a Ziploc user. I use the quart bags and mark on the outside which machine they belong. My 401 had bobbins that came with it and I have come to realize, they don't all belong to that machine. A couple of bobbins were rusty so having realized they didn't belong and even if they had got pitched.

I use nail polish to tell my bobbins apart. Red, blue and none. That way I never put them in the wrong zip lock bag or drawer. I put a dot on the side of the bobbin holder in the machine and that way I am sure I am putting in right bobbin.

I use a sharpie and draw a line across the bobbin for my Bailey machine. My Brother embroidery machine uses pre-wound bobbins kept in a drawer near the machine. My Jamone hardly gets used but its bobbins are interchangeable with my Brother SQ900.