Hi Kris,

I just found a metal bobbin to measure and they are slightly larger in outside diameter than the plastic version by about 0.010".

The metal bobbin materal is thinner therefore it appears that more line could be wound on it; but it would be more difficult to reduce the diameter of the metal bobbin vs the plastic version to allow them to fit to the bottom the matchcase.

The metal bobbins were made by; Prym-Dritz Corp ( www.dritz.com ) of Spartanburg SC, they are called Class 66 Drop-in Bobbins and I bought a pack of 4 at Wal-mart for a couple dollars.

Standard Stuff: I have no connection to the above company, other than there bobbins are in my PSK!

Mike

Thanks Katie,

I will look for that kit up here in Canada, I appreciate your help.

Mike

According to this page, Class L and Class 15 sewing machine bobbins have a diameter of 3/4". Those might fit more comfortably in your 0.8" case without having to modify them. (The same store also sells those bobbins.)

Annoyingly, a closer look at their schematic says "dimensions are approximate," so it might pay off to go to a sewing store with a ruler in hand and verify the diameter.

My wife caught on to MEC (i'm orignally from Canada, now in the Caribbean), then caught on to other stores as well. The good news about this country, is that there are no deliveries to home - have to pick up at post office/fedex/ups depot. As long as I put my mobile number on the parcel, i get the call. Then sneak out to the depot to pick up new toys. Fool proof system of keeping your stuff!!!!

All,
Thanks for all your help... didn't expect a quick response to bobbins on this site!!!! ;-) Just have to wait for a delivery and try some ideas out.

Katie,
Thanks for the urls.

Kris

I made a couple of bobbins to fit in my PSK for fishing line and heavy duty thread.

1. I took a regular round bic pen apart and discarded everything except the tube.
2. Then I cut the tube to the length I desired with an x-acto knife.
3. After that I took an old tupperware lid and cut 2 disks for the spool ends using the x-acto knife locked into a compass to make sure both were round and the correct size. The compass point will also show you where the center of the disc is.
4. I then enlarged the hole that the compass point made so that it was slightly smaller than the hole in the end of the tube.
5. Then I took a 1/4" (IIRC) plastic screw, cut the length down to about 1/4" slathered it with Gorilla Glue, and stuck it through the disk and into the pen carcass.

Then I went through steps 4 and 5 again for the other side.

It was proabably way more of a hassle to make these spools than what it was worth to me in the end, but they worked pretty well... Especially for free...

Then I changed my psk yet again and ditched the homemade spools.

It's kind of a pain but I put wire/fishing line on 1 in nails. First I tie the wire to the nail and then put the nail in a Dremel. On low speed I slowly spin the wire on the nail. I've always thought that bobbins were a waste of space as they have the hole in the middle and you can't use an empty bobbin for much. Not so with the nails.

I agree about the bobbin being a waste of space. Also a thread that is tightly wound will tangle easier, which is why some hand sewing threads are wound around giant spools, it makes the thread easier to handle. Fishing line is probably on large spools for the same reason.

Winding it around a film canister or similar container with a rubber band to hold the ends down sounds better to me, or winding around a flat "card" for a low profile, although that means time consuming winding by hand.

The nail idea is great, a nail has many uses and adds value to the storage.

I would also recommend looking at Ranger Rick's site on his necklace. It shows how you can wind several types of wire/line/string around a dog tag. I do not own one of his products so I have not tried it. The idea makes sense and is low profile. I am carrying my fishing kit in a match box and have been considering using this method to spool the various wires around it and secure with dcut tape.