I have an off to the side cone holder, inherited it from my mom. I have the pin, but I cannot get it to fit in the hole. So, I use a small bud vase, with a short screwdriver handle down, I put the cone on the screwdriver blade. The blade is short, doesn't come out the other end of the thread. I had tried to use a small coffee mug, but the spool acted crazy. The mug was still sitting there, and I started tossing my empty bobbins in it. Much easier than getting out the bobbin box, which is too full for all my empties anyway. Then, when I was starting a project and filling bobbins, I just fished them out of the mug.