Bobbin

[ratherfish]

I have some older fly tying materials, all seem to be in good condition; however, some of the spools of thread are a larger size than the ones on the shelves today. These spools measure an 1 5/8 across the spool - anyone know where I can get a bobbin to fit these larger spools?

 

[Ard]

We may have someone who knows antique tying better than I but I've never seen spool holders that big / wide. You could just get hold of one of the longer old Sunrise bobbins then take a pair of needle nose and tweak things into the right bend to hold the large spools.

 

[falcon53]

Those wide spools may be for guide / rod wrappings.

 

[ratherfish]

Those wide spools may be for guide / rod wrappings.

Well, I never would have thought about that - interesting, very interesting. Guess I’ll need to get into rod building now...

 

[Ard]

That is I believe the correct answer, you'll probably notice the thread is fairly thick.

 

[JoJer]

I was going to suggest the same thing as Ard, mostly 'cause I'm frugal.

 

[flytire]

nobody remembers gudebrod?

these bobbin holders are no longer available

 

[silver creek]

I have some older fly tying materials, all seem to be in good condition; however, some of the spools of thread are a larger size than the ones on the shelves today. These spools measure an 1 5/8 across the spool - anyone know where I can get a bobbin to fit these larger spools?

EVen before worrying about bobbins, threads degrade over time so test them out before even hunting for bobbins.

 

[trev]

If you determine that you want to use these threads for fly tying, I have two ways that I have used; first is you don't use a bobbin or bobbin holder, you simply cut a length of thread 12" or so long and tie with that, using hackle pliers as weight when you need to pause or making half hitches at that stage. Second is get some sewing machine bobbins from your nearby craft store and use a dowel as a mandrel and a drill motor to turn it wind the threads onto the bobbins, then adapt the legs of a Matarelli style bobbin holder to fit these small bobbins, a bobbin holder that works with the paper bobbins used for silk will work.
I have used this type bobbin for all my threads for 40 years, they take up so much less space, but I have lost track of what brand or size many of my threads are, not that I care.

 

[silver creek]

If you determine that you want to use these threads for fly tying, I have two ways that I have used; first is you don't use a bobbin or bobbin holder, you simply cut a length of thread 12" or so long and tie with that, using hackle pliers as weight when you need to pause or making half hitches at that stage. Second is get some sewing machine bobbins from your nearby craft store and use a dowel as a mandrel and a drill motor to turn it wind the threads onto the bobbins, then adapt the legs of a Matarelli style bobbin holder to fit these small bobbins, a bobbin holder that works with the paper bobbins used for silk will work.
I have used this type bobbin for all my threads for 40 years, they take up so much less space, but I have lost track of what brand or size many of my threads are, not that I care. View attachment 20843

Trev,

I used those before I switched to the Norvise bobbin system.

They are standard sewing machine bobbin and are quite inexpensive. I used the plastic ones like those in the image below.

There is one set of 25 bobbins for $4.39 at the link below:

Amazon.com: Set of 25 pcs Plastic Sewing Machine Bobbins with Storage Case: Kitchen & Dining

They are a bit more expensive here for 36 bobbins:

Amazon.com: Paxcoo 36 Pcs Transparent Plastic Sewing Machine Bobbins with Case and Soft Measuring Tape for Brother Singer Babylock Janome Kenmore

 

[trev]

Silver Creek, That's a nice storage case and a note describing brand/color/weight could be inserted to the cradle for each bobbin. In the past I bought at local sewing stores or sewing departments of big stores, I have some plastic but mostly metal from long time ago. When I started tying thread came on three or four sizes of spools and none of my spools fit Frank Matarelli's bobbin holder (designed to use with Pearsall's?) and about half fit the Universal Vice bobbin holder I had so the bobbins from the wife's Singer became part my tying tools. Probably before plastic bobbins became common. And that reminds me if you have a machine that uses this type bobbin you can use the sewing machine to do the winding/transfer.

 

[silver creek]

Probably before plastic bobbins became common. And that reminds me if you have a machine that uses this type bobbin you can use the sewing machine to do the winding/transfer.

I used the quick and dirty method to wind the thread on the bobbins. Put the eraser end of pencil in a hand held battery powered electric drill, jam the tapered lead end of the pencil into the center hole of the bobbin. Now you have a variable speed bobbin winder.