Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsPitiful
Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2013
Boye-Simplicity Electric Yarn Ball Winder: Noisy, and can't tolerate any tension to speak of. At first, I couldn't get it to work at all. Then I figured out how to throw the yarn at it while manually pulling it off my swift, which took some coordination, and speed; not exactly a labor-saver. I started to rearrange my swift, and thread the yarn through the tensioner of a nearby manual winder to aim it straight at the Boye winder, I put a few drops of oil on the Boye winder ratchet, and a little on the axle of the metal-and-plastic swift in hopes of reducing drag.
I then got some momentum going on the swift with the winder going at full speed, and was finally able to let it go without manually controlling tension. But the result was a very, very tightly wound ball. Better than no ball at all, and better than having to work way harder than I would with a manual winder to control the tension, but hardly satisfactory.
And did I mention noisy? Clattery, whiny, just awful. And the suction device on the bottom isn't exactly perfect, either; mine skidded a bit, had to hold it down. Clamps would be more reliable.
Would some kind geeky soul please come up with a better consumer grade electric winder? There's a lot of room between even the highest price for this pitiful thing and the $600+ professional grade winders. It would need a much better motor, much quieter components, and more thoughtful tensioning. And for the love of heaven, please make sure it works easily with the most commonly sold swifts. I bet a lot of us would gratefully pay around $200 for one that works the way we hope!
