I've been using a cordless drill with a pencil to hold the bobbin. But some thinner yarns take longer to wind, and even though it's automated, my poor thumb and fingers get fatigued holding the unit for the duration. I have 2 rechargeable batteries for it, so that when one runs out of juice, and I'm in the mood to wind bobbins, I can switch out to use the other fully charged battery.
Some weavers use a hand-cranked bobbin winder like this one. I always thought that would be tiresome, and never went that route. Plus, I don't feel I'm coordinated enough to make that method work well.
The obvious choice (which I never thought of until this week!) is to use one of my spinning wheels to wind bobbins. It just never occurred to me that I could put those tiny bobbins on the spindle, but the big bobbins that come with the spinning wheel are just oversize versions. I'm going to see how this works on my Louet S90 with Woollee Winder. If this works, I'll go with this option--because I already have a spinning wheel. ... Turns out the 6-inch bobbins I'm using for this project are just too long for the spindle on my spinning wheels, though it may work for the shorter bobbins. Save this idea for some other project where I can use shorter bobbins.
I was considering getting an electric bobbin winder for weavers -- until I saw the prices on those. $250 or $300? Yikes! Why are they so darn expensive? There's really nothing to it!
Someone in one of the weaving Facebook Groups suggested getting a sewing machine motor (variable speed) for $27 on Amazon, along with the shaft kit for a single end bobbin winder (hand crank) for $21, use some scrap wood already in stock for the base and voi la! A serviceable bobbin winder for a fraction of the cost!
This is the DIY version we made at home for about $55. It winds bobbins in about a minute vs. 10 minutes on the drill! It's fast! It will take a little practice to get the yarn wound evenly.
Here's a little video about how to wind weaving bobbins properly.
1 comment:
I use a manual winder, which I like very much. Before that, I wound bobbins by hand! I never thought about using one of my spinning wheels. Good idea for bobbins that will fit.
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