HimaPro Compact Automatic Electric Bobbin Winder for Sewing Machines

So far, so good! Handled my Brother Innovis bobbins, my random pre-wound embroidery white empties (I rewind half full with black embroidery bobbin thread, as I rarely use that) that fit IN the Brother but not necessarily ON the machine's winder - AND - best of all, it works with my Pfaff 7530, whose bobbin winder decided to stop working while I'm in the midst of Christmas and new grandbaby sewing. (I know, I know - spa vist for the Pfaff. But my tech quoted me 8 -10 weeks, and he always takes at least 2 weeks longer than he quotes - but he's worth it. So - bobbin winder it is!) Two dozen bobbins today - the Pfaff does not need (and will not work with) the additional winder head. If you have an older Pfaff like mine, that may be good news. Given the types of thread I was using (Pfaff was all cotton, embroidery was older polyester), there was a LOT of "fluff" from the tension dial, but the setting was good right out of the box and it was easy to clean with a simple brushing and pulling a new dollar bill through the dial. It is FAST, and yes, it prefers to wind at the top of the bobbin, but then so do my Pfaff and Brother (as did my earlier Elna). It's an easy fix, as this thing is so quick, you really can't start it and walk away. So put a finger gently on the thread at about mid-bobbin height, and it winds evenly. I have it plugged into a USB cable plugged into a USB hub plugged into my computer - and that's plenty of power for it. As I noted, so far, so good. We'll see how it lasts, but honestly, no news is good news and means it's still working fine.

This product is really fast. I bought it to wind bobbins for my Feather Weight 201 and it works perfectly. It works so well that I am also using it to wind my Janome bobbins too. The product is a great price for what it does, and it is a nice compact size. Hopefully, it will hold up to much bobbin winding.

I chose this particular one because it winds bobbins for Viking Husqvarna machines. I have only used it once, thus only the four stars. It was easy to set up and use and wound the bobbin properly. The only problem I had was changing the bobbin head to the Viking one. Instructions said pop off. Well, it didn't. I pulled and pulled and was afraid I would break it. I finally watched a video, and they used a flat object to get under the bottom of the bobbin head and it popped right off. That worked for me. I am happy with this product so far.

I got a bobbin winder years ago when they first came out. I never really liked it because it never worked very well, so I eventually gave it away. Fast forward to last year when my main sewing machine gave out and I had to start using my ancient, but reliable Pfaff machine. The bobbin thread guide broke off years ago, so winding bobbins involved trying to provide enough tension with my finger and it just didn't work. I was regretting getting rid of that first bobbin winder, and decided I needed to replace it. After reading many reviews, I decided to try the Himapro Bobbin Winder. It arrived a couple of days ago and I attempted to wind a bobbin. First, the instructions are so tiny, I had to take a picture with my phone so I could enlarge them enough to be able to read them. That's not my eyes, it must be like a 4 or 6 font size! Next, the Pfaff bobbin spindle they included didn't work with my Pfaff bobbins. I couldn't push the bobbin onto the spindle when it was in place on the winder, so I pulled it off to better see if the bobbin could be pushed on. Nope. Hmmm. I decided to see if the regular spindle would work with my bobbins, and it did. Yay! After a few attempts and failures threading, I pulled out the instructions and discovered that I was threading it wrong. After correct threading, (I still can't figure out the wire coily thing, but you can just push the thread through the circle)I held my breath and pushed the on button. Holy cow, that was amazing! It was fast, it was pretty even as far as I could tell, and I didn't have to mess with the tension at all. Now, there are two options for power and neither are regular electric plug ins. One is a USB plug (what I used) and the other is 3 AA batteries. I haven't tried the batteries yet so I don't know if they provide enough power. The USB of course does, but we have an electric wall outlet that has usb ports in addition to regular plug ins. If you don't have that, you'll probably have to use something like your phone charger adapter. Not a huge deal. I would have preferred a regular plug in power source but this method is very common now. The price was actually less than I paid for that original bobbin winder a those years ago, so definitely a good value. On a scale of 1 to 5, I'll give this a 4.8 because of the font size, the Pfaff spindle not working, and the power source. Not bad. Not perfect, but pretty darn good.

This bobbin winder is super fast and does a fine job with smaller bobbins but does not wind a size M to full even with the adjustment screw so loose it will come off if you go any further—ah and damned if they couldn’t include a screwdriver that fits that stupid little screw, or make a knob rather than a screw! Had to babysit it to make it wind as full as it should go after I searched throughout the house for a screwdriver to fit that dinky screw. But I didn’t want to invest in one winder specifically for quilter’s bobbins when I have machines of all types. Seems to be of decent quality and value is good for what it is but I can see I’ll have to tape that tiniest screwdriver ever to the winder so I can reduce the adjustment screw when I want to wind regular type bobbins. I’m thinking I will keep it because of its speed…well I say that but thinking how I’d have to be continually changing that stupid screw to use it for my other machines makes it a different story eh? (I had bought a separate thread stand so didn’t need this feature but it is nice to have on a non industrial winder. And all my machines wind their own bobbins now but 1) not all have a separate threading system so have to interrupt you’re sewing to wind a bobbin, and 2) quilting machines bobbin winders are notorious for breaking down so must have a dependable back up. Maybe this just isn’t it. For domestic sewing machines you’d be fine with this little whiz.

Wish I would have bought this years ago! So fast and convenient compared to unthreading rethreading. Works beautifully for my Viking Sapphire 875 and Mega Quilter. No more false empty bobbin alerts from my uneven 875 winds! So easy to operate for different thread styles. Cut my cursing in half :D Buy it and enjoy!

9/15/23 UPDATE: I broke my unwritten rule not to review a product too soon. The wire that is in the bobbin holder broke the 2nd time I used the bobbin winder. It was a metal class 15 bobbin. I am so disappointed. It was the only bobbin I did not test first as it is so common. The thread wound around the bottom of the bobbin and the bobbin was so loosely threaded that it is a toss. The metal wire that is incorporated in the bobbin came out with the bobbin and I can't fix it. Very disappointed. Pros: I can see this will fit most bobbins. I have different bobbins for my multiple machines. This is perfect for my vintage machine bobbins. This little winders is fast (so much faster than on my machines' bobbin winders), wound all my bobbins nice and tight and stopped when it should. I wish I hadn't waited so long to get this. Small enough to store or leave it out. Directions are very straight forward and I can see there is an adapter for Phaff sewing machines and one more (Viking or Bernina?) I had one other bobbin winder (Simplicity ?) and it worked well, but not like this one. I didn't use batteries, but connected it with the accompanying charging cord. I have a Tower (SuperDanny) surge protector with USB outlets and that is what I connected it to. CONs: NONE If the bobbin winder doesn't hold up or something goes kaput, I will come back and update my review.

Works great and compact.