Simplicity Boye Electric Yarn Ball Winder

The ball winder arrived yesterday (much faster than expected) and was in great shape, except that it was partly covered in an oily substance (perhaps it was machine oil?). I wiped it off, read the instructions and started winding yarn balls.I've never had a yarn ball winder before, and was a little confused when I was shopping for one; I wasn't sure if I had to have a swift to use a ball winder. So for clarification: If you have hand-wound your skeins old-school style, you do not need a swift with this machine. You will need to manually assist the machine with the unwinding of larger skeins, because it creates more tension than the machine allows for. However, I was able to put small skeins in a bowl and let the machine pull the yarn itself. I didn't try winding any coiled skeins; I don't think you have to have a swift for them, but I imagine it makes winding them much easier.It works quickly and smoothly and the adjustable speed is great. I also love that the machine is very sensitive to tension, so when I fall behind the machine's speed in unwinding, it doesn't continue to pull with the same strength (which could break a thin yarn and probably the machine). This may seem like an obvious need for more experienced users, but I was pleasantly surprised.As other reviewers have mentioned, it can be noisy. The general winding process is a little noisy (I found it similar to a sewing machine in decibel, but I have an old sewing machine): it is a repetitive, rocking noise created when the guide hook bar rolls up and down the coiled track. However, as tension increases, the machine will let out a high-pitched siren-like noise that is significantly more disturbing. I found this works well as a type of aversion therapy: don't fall behind the machine in unwinding speed and it won't make the bad noise.I have some hand/wrist and shoulder problems, so getting an electric winder was important for me. I wound about 30 partial skeins of hand-wound yarn balls last night (I'm trying to organize my yarn collection) and found the machine to be the perfect fit for what I needed. When my husband saw it in action, his response was "That's inskein!" :-)

Being a spinner I have great need to wind yarn from skeins into a more user friendly ball format for use in weaving and knitting. Sometime my arthritis flares and hand winding is just too painful. I wanted an electric ball winder for those bad days (and some lazy ones, too). This unit is heavy enough to sit quietly on the table top while operating. I've wound super fine silk yarn (no, I didn't spin this, just bought it in skeins), smooth handspun silk, slubby handspun angora rabbit, smooth handspun fine merino wool. The ball winder handled all of them quite respectably. It is not an autopilot machine, so you have to watch it and having your skein holder not quite tight makes pulling from it easier. In spite of having to monitor it, to see the ball wind on so smoothly with no painful cranking on my part was delightful. There is a large enough core that when the ball is pulled off, the core collapse eliminates the "first on" tension that sometimes happens with ball winding. I love this machine.

UPDATE 12/26: I've used my winder several times now and I'm even more disappointed then I was when I first received it. The motor on this product is so weak that it can barely turn my swift. Any tension at all on the yarn and the motor makes a terrible grinding noise. It's almost impossible to wind a tidy cake/ball on this winder because it can't take any tension at all. If I still had the original packaging, I'd return the ball winder. My Royal hand crank winder is far superior.Original review:I received my electric ball winder today and just in time to wind a hank of yarn. The winder did wind the yarn into a yarn cake-like object. However, the cake is really loose. I'm a bit unhappy with the tension....it should be slightly squishy, but not falling apart. I put the yarn in a nylon knee high to keep it together. The instructions are very explicit about the yarn on the swift needing to be loose and I know I used the product correctly. Next time I will add just a bit of extra tension and hope that I get a better end result. However, I'm a bit concerned about this as I've read many reviews (on Ravelry) saying that the motor burns out easily if there is too much tension.All in all, the items works, but I get a better result with my manual crank winder.

This is my special tool I used to wind up my yarns.....the easy way. Easy set up and away you go winding your yarns. A bit noisy but tolerate.I could use a double size electric ball winder to wind up a 6 oz skein yarn. In my experienced I only allow the 6 oz skein to wind 3/4th way. There is a part on the machine that is used for "crochet guidage", (this part moves right and left to right, back and forth motions and as the ball gets bigger, the guidage gets raised a little) while the yarn is winding into a ball (not exactly a ball shape but close) the yarn starts to touch the "crochet guidage", it's rubbing the yarns as it moves back and forth. I wondered is this the end of winding the yarn or can you go much further, without harming the machine or the "crochet guidage"? You can go through to almost 3/4th skein, cut off then start again to a smaller size ball. I would rather wind up a complete 6 oz skein in one ball. Is it possible? I could be more bolder. I read the manual instructions but could not find how far can this machine can wind up a skein? Perhaps I did not try harder to allow the machine to go further and see what happen. I was careful not to break the machine. Since this is new to me, it's time to contact someone who knows this machine well or maybe it's you reading my notes and perhaps can tell me what I don't know. Thanks for sharing.

This stupid thing stopped working the second time I used it. The winding spindle won't work unless you turn it manually and the thing never had a slow speed. It went from off to fast.

This Winder was a little 'workhorse!' It didn't take long to realize it didn't like to run full speed, and if we taped down the starting yarn, it smoothly made a lovely 100 gram cake. So much easier and faster than hand winding! Wound our alpaca yarn (200 cakes) in one day!Good job!

Because. I was feed up of knot,s in ball,s wall. Ok all the item,s I have of you have been top.s. All but one stupid cat book

works amazing, I can buy yarn by the hank now, not just yarn by the ball.

Weeeeellll....Ok. It does what I need it to, and has already saved me many hours of winding by hand and all the related strains!! However there are some things I'm not too happy about.Firstly it comes supplied with a US power supply, as all the other reviewers have noted. It is described as "imported" in the description, but not where it is imported from. I didn't mind buying a UK power supply for it, but it's annoying to have to do so when buying a gizmo supposedly from Europe.Secondly, not matter what I do, it whines. One reviewer has suggested this is the fault of the person using it - believe me, it isn't. I have watched any number of reviews and how-to videos on Youtube, and they all whine. It's annoying, but not the worst noise in the world. And the pitch rises with speed / tension / size of ball on the spindle.Thirdly, I have a beautiful wooden swift that has always teamed up with a manual winder to perfection. This winder is quite small, and if you look through the side vents you can see that the motor is tiny. It therefore won't pick up yarn of even lace weight directly from the swift - it has to be manually fed. Mine doesn't grind if the tension is too tight, it simply stops working, which is much better than stripping gears or burning out the motor. This isn't a deal-breaker for me, but if you're trying to avoid repetitive arm or wrist movements, this may not do the job.Fourthly, the sucker pad to keep it down vibrates loose *all* the time. I mean winding one ball will allow it to release from a very flat, smooth surface. So be prepared to catch it if it starts walking towards the edge.Finally, I am onto my second power supply. I bought this one:http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BXUT88G?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00which worked for about a week until it was dropped. I have now bought another one the same with no problems. It works extremely well with the winder, and doesn't heat up or make a noise at all.

Does not perform. Slow , loud and limited. Do not buy under any circumstances. A lot of money for nothing.