Thank you Dearl, Esther and Lorelei for your help and to the two others who
contacted me privately. I was doing my nails last night when I realised that
the emery board I was using was a lot finer than the sandpaper I'd tried on
the bobbins, so I had another go at smoothing the bulb with the
I'm a newcomer to lace-making and recently bought some bobbins by mail
order that I didn't realise would be unpolished. I'm finding that when I
try to lengthen the thread on a bobbin while I'm working, it catches on
the slightly rough bulb as I turn the bobbin. (I'm using fine thread -
80.)
Does
on the question of polishing bobbins
using a very fine steel wool will sometimes help
also finishing them will also help
either with paint or varnish or sometimes beeswax also can help after the
steel wool
hope this helps
yours in lace
Dearl
Christiansburg, Virginia, USA
My idea of housework is
try to lengthen the thread on a bobbin while I'm working, it catches on
the slightly rough bulb as I turn the bobbin. (I'm using fine thread -
80.)
Does anyone know of a way of polishing these bobbins? I understand that
they're normally polished by machine.
Annette, depending on the
Annette
The bad news is that you need to use at least 2 grades of sandpaper to get
rid of all the hairs and notches on your bobbins. Start with #100 garnet
paper which will remove the notches and hairs. Then move on to #200 and
#400. It is important to use a tack cloth or to carefully vacuum
