Ceramic bobbins vs metal

[skighhigh]

Anyone ever have problems with ceramic bobbins and thread beakage?

[Fred]

I heard that the ceramic bobbins can chip and therefore cause a problem with thread breakage, but haven't had that experience myself.

[cheech]

Anyone ever have problems with ceramic bobbins and thread beakage?

Have you dropped them on a hard surface, if so, you may have chipped it on the inside.

That said, I have never had a problem with ceramic tipped bobbins.

[jdubya]

i buy the metal, and when they go bad, toss 'em or use them for wire or floss or something. i can buy a lot of griffin metal tubes for the price of one ceramic.

[Curtis Fry]

I had my first ceramic bobbin go bad two days ago. I think it had been dropped or something cuz there's something snagging the thread inside now.

Anyhoo...I started out with the metal ones, but after going through several and tossing them out (or returning them to the store), I ended up with ceramic and have not had any problems until this week. So IMO, the ceramic ones will give you more bang for your buck.

[baetis]

I hate the metal bobbins, I constantly broke thread and it became very frustrating. I tossed all of my metal ones and bought ceramic and have not had any problems. Now I don't have to worry about my thread breaking and can concentrate more on tying.

[John Bell]

I just bought a ceramic that I am taking back for a refund or replacement. Thread will not feed smoothly through it. Otherwise I prefer the ceramics.

[Salmo22]

I've been using S&M bobbins for many years. I really like the weight of these bobbins, how they fit in the palm of my hand while tying, and the fact that they will stand upright on my tying bench when I need to set one down. My only gripe has been related to the metal tube. They can develop grooves that ultimately fray or break the thread. Typically I can repair the damage by putting a round wooden tooth pick in a Dremel tool and coating the tooth pick with a jeweler’s polishing abrasive. I then insert the tooth pick into the end of the tube and polish-out the worn area. While this solves the problem (and works for all metal tube bobbins) it is time consuming.

I’ve always hoped that S&M would produce a ceramic tube version of their bobbin. Based on a recent visit to the Wasatch Custom Angling Products website, it appears they have acquired the rights to the S&M bobbin design and will be selling a version with a ceramic tipped tube (ala Dr. Slick, Griffin, etc). They’ve even added a wood accent that improves the looks. I will be attending the Idaho Falls Expo in April. Wasatch Custom Angling Products always has a booth at the Expo and I will be checking these new ceramic S&M out. If they are as good as they look on the website, I will be replacing my old models immediately.