To Alison, my winder is Genko, made in Germany. I bought it from a retired lacemaker who lived in Belgium for awhile (in the 1970’s?). The wooden chock that holds the bobbin is a replacement made in Sweden. The winder is metal, has its own clamp & runs very smoothly. It clamps to a table but I clamped it to the arm of a dining room chair to save space. I’ve used it for all kinds of Continental bobbins & it works great. When I searched for the company online, I found antique hand tools made by this company so perhaps they are no longer in business? My winder was made as such—it is not another tool modified to be a winder. In any event, you are closer to the continent than I, so perhaps you can find one on eBay or similar.
As to what bobbins work in various winders, my beaded Binche bobbins were a problem until I discovered those gel tubes that fit on a pencil to cushion your grip. I slit one open, wrapped it around my bobbin & fit it in the chock—Voila! This product might work for spangled Midlands because they are similar diameter & a big pack of the pencil cushions is like $2. Large bobbins like Idrija are another matter! Allie Marguccio has a large winder for Idrija bobbins that she bought from a weaving company. If you need one of those, you should ask her for details. Hope this helps. Sincerely, Susan Hottle FL USA Sent from my iPad - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/