Are all bobbin cases created equal?

[MainiacMatt]

Me again with another question 

I'm seeing type M bobbin cases ranging in price from $3.50 ea. to $27 ea.

Is there a huge quality difference in bobbin cases?  Or are some people just fishing for suckers?

The finish in some of the photos vary from a dull matt to a bright chrome.  Are there different manufacturing processes?  (i.e. are some cast and some stamped metal?)  If so, which would be prefered?

Inquiring sewers want to know.

 

Edited February 23, 2023 by MainiacMatt

[kgg]

2 hours ago, MainiacMatt said:

I'm seeing type M bobbin cases ranging in price from $3.50 ea. to $27 ea.

The price's you are quoting seem way out of line.

2 hours ago, MainiacMatt said:

Is there a huge quality difference in bobbin cases?

In a nut shell yes there is quite a bit of difference in quality of bobbins. The variation in the actual dimensions can be huge to the point that when you are winding a bobbin the bobbin will wobble. So that bobbin is probably doing something similar when in the bobbin case and causing bobbin thread problems. The worst I have found are the solid aluminum ones while the best are the genuine Juki bobbins. The actual size of a M bobbins is 10.7 mm in width and 24.9 mm in diameter. When I get a new machine I always order extra Juki bobbins.

I have never paid anywhere close to the prices you listed.

kgg

[MikeRock]

'bobbin cases',   vs.  'bobbins'       

[MainiacMatt]

This is what I'm talking about...

 

Edited February 23, 2023 by MainiacMatt

[Wizcrafts]

1 hour ago, MainiacMatt said:

This is what I'm talking about...

 

Spend the money on the cases. You don't want parts flying off from vibration.

[DonInReno]

Some cheap Chinese bobbin cases aren’t built correctly and may never work properly - it’s just a chance you take. 

If you were to buy one of each of  $5, $10, $15, $20, and the $25 bobbin cases, I’d bet you’d find at least two of them were the same.    The $5 case probably is the worst of the bunch, and the highest priced is probably an over priced $15 model, but the quality of the rest may or may not reflect the price.   Personally I’d buy two $10 cases, from two different suppliers.  One of the two always seems to be of much higher quality - toss the worse one.  I’ve purchased over priced low quality parts from reputable sources, as well as top quality parts directly from an unknown source in China for Pennies on the dollar.

I also get a good laugh out of the “high quality” Japanese built replacement parts that ship from China!   

[MtlBiker]

@MainiacMatt - I've been buying bobbin cases for my Consew 206RB-5 from Wawak.  Especially when they have a sale (quite often).  I've found their bobbin cases work just fine.  Currently their price is US$12.95 each but with the sales they're often 25% less.

I like having spares and also like being able to adjust the tension for one thread (v92 for example) and generally not have to worry about it.  And I adjust another bobbin case for v138.  (And often black thread needs a different tension adjustment than other colors.)  I figure the more you futz around with the tension adjustment on a case the more chance there is of something going wrong.