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What bobbin size is universal?
We're having a polite disagreement here at my shop...every bobbin pack I carry has a list on the back of machines those bobbins will not work with.
The prewound L bobbins are supposed to work with "most" machines, but I haven't found any empty Ls.
So is there a "universal" bobbin size?

I only get the bobbins at the dealer for my brand and model. I have never used already filled bobbins. JMHO. I want my machines to work at their best. Don't want to take chances.

Didn't help you much.

I didn't think there was anything "universal" these days?? I don't remember Mom or Home Ec ever teaching me (ages ago) to be cautious of which bobbins I used in which machine. But back then, home sewing machines were pretty basic. Now there are so many different brands that do all kinds of specialty stitching. I've heard the gals in my sewing clubs talk about using the right bobbins for their different machines, and the Bernina dealer, too.

I don't have any personal experience with embroidery machines or pre-wounds, but this topic made me curious. This is what I found when I did some Googling...interesting...esp. the fine print at the bottom, that gives L & A size differences. And I didn't know some machines could come with another bobbin case!

http://www.abc-machine-embroid...atibility_Chart.html

I found this, which gives good measurements, but indicates there are no universal bobbins.


http://www.theuniversalthreadh...nd_more_bobbins.html

Hummm, I have 2 Pfaff machines. I only use the Pfaff bobbins on my Creative Vision. On the other one I have to compare bobbins to see which will work. Some of them are higher in the center column and won't work. For those two machines, I do not use pre-wound bobbins. On the Longarm, I use the size recommended by the manufacturer. I do use pre-wound bobbins with it. I love the Magna-glide bobbins from Fil-Tec. Since using them I have not had any real tension problems. Know that this doesn't help much.

I have some bobbins from a singer and they won't fit any of the Janome machines that I have now. Some bobbins are thicker than others. I use only the type for my machine.

It used to be a bobbin was a bobbin, but as machines got more sophisticated and manufacturers started trying to differentiate themselves the bobbin has changed and there is no longer a "universal" one size fits all bobbin. Here is a good link to ones that will/can use "L" type which are primarily prewounds.

http://www.superiorthreads.com...mpatibility-list.pdf

Machines can be picky, for example if your machine needs a size 15 and you try to use a size 15J, it will not work. They are very similar, but just enough different to keep it from forming a stitch.

Chris
S. Cal

Having multiple machines makes it irritating to keep bobbins separated. Aren't we glad needles are universal? I'd HATE to keep those separated too. Bobbins are hard to distinguish at times. Needles? Whew!

Even within a brand different models of machine can have bobbins that are quite different. These are from different model Baby Lock machines

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Bozie,

Keeping bobbins separated is a real pain. When I had both a Singer and Janome, I took a permanent marker and put a J on the Janome bobbins and an S on the Singer bobbins. They looked almost identical but they wouldn't fit back and forth. Now that I have two Janomes, I don't have to do that but its now a habit.