As others have said, there are plain bobbins and decorated bobbins. The plain, basic bobbin of inexpensive wood can be fairly low priced in quantities of 100. My favorite continental bobbin costs me about 65-70 cents (USA) each when I buy 100 of them on special. (I watch for them to come up on the weekly special when I want more.) If I get them in rosewood, then the price is about double. Fancy woods carry a higher price. Any decoration - fancy turnings, paint, wire, decals, engraving, spliced woods -- adds more to the price. You can be economical or extravagant with your bobbins, but the lace will look the same no matter what kind of bobbin you use.
I started out in 1993 with 2 dozen plastic bobbins, but soon needed more. I acquired wood bobbins at lace days and wherever I could as I built my supply. In 1998 for Arachne '98 class, I was requested to bring 100 pair. At that time I gasped...and started counting. I found I just had 100 pair if I spangled everything that wasn't spangled, respangled the early ones with too-large spangles, and dumped two projects that I didn't really want to finish anyway. Ten years later, I needed 165 pairs for a project, and found enough midlands ready in my bobbin drawers. And I didn't use all my midlands even then. Collecting a few at a time at each lace day and conference had really added up. Also, in these same ten years, I started using a lot of continentals, and have built up my supply in various sizes. I keep promising myself that 'someday' I'll inventory and count my bobbins. In our group, if a person is short bobbins for a project, we borrow some from another lacemaker. That way we can try out a new lace or take a class before investing in a set of special bobbins. I'm a person who enjoys the tools of the trade and tend to collect more that I "really" need. <G> Alice in Oregon ... blue skies and sunshine ----- Original Message ---- From: Achim Siebert <[email protected]> Still searching for real "six penny" bobbins ... no wonder nearly nobody does exquisite bobbin lace any more. If a project needs 300-400 bobbins and a simple continental one costs 3 GBP nobody can or wants to afford making intricate lace. It would cost a small fortune. Since there are modern turning lathes that make copies of a piece all by themselves I really don't understand those fancy prices. - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]
