Editing Bobbin (section)

== Industrial textiles ==

{{Update|section|date=February 2022}}
Bobbins are used in [[Spinning (textiles)|spinning]], [[weaving]], [[knitting]], [[sewing]], and [[lace]]making.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/bobbin   |title=Bobbin|author=<!--Not stated-->|date=|website=Britannica |publisher=|access-date=2024-09-09|quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allabouttheyarn.co.uk/products/knitting-bobbin-set?srsltid=AfmBOoqaFgF6PVIoygvXOfF1F3YNjaBTqO5Jfxi135zzdx60i8RlFgAz |title=Knitting Bobbin Set|author=<!--Not stated-->|date=|website=All About Yarn |publisher=|access-date=2024-09-09|quote=}}</ref>  In these practices, bobbins were invented to "manage the piles of thread and yarn that would be mechanically woven into cloth,"<ref name =TOFA111021>{{cite web | author = ((TOFA Editors)) | date = October 21, 2011 | title = Wooden Bobbins: Woven in History | work = [[The Old Farmer's Almanac|The Old Farmer's Almanac (Almanac.com) ]]  | location = Dublin, N.H. | publisher = Yankee Publishing | url = https://www.almanac.com/wooden-bobbins-woven-history | access-date = February 3, 2022 | quote = Bobbins and the machinery they ran on were some of the greatest inventions of the Victorian Era. Originally created to manage the piles of thread and yarn that would be mechanically woven into cloth, bobbins helped to revolutionize textile manufacturing. The automated weaving machines would have hundreds of spindles operating simultaneously, with each spindle holding a bobbin that either released or collected the thread. Most mills had wooden bobbins made specifically for their machinery, which accounts for the many varied shapes and sizes of these spools. Traditional wooden bobbins have been retired from current manufacturing. Modern economics does not favor the use of wooden bobbins since a great deal of handwork is involved in making them. And wooden bobbins are not well suited for today's synthetic fibers and high-speed machinery. Primarily made from ash, birch, and other hardwoods, bobbins have withstood the test of time. Each one has its own "battle scars" that give it unique character.}}</ref> which would have originally been wound through the use of human power, but which eventually became machine-driven.{{cn|date = January 2022}} In these applications, bobbins provide storage, temporary and permanent, for [[yarn]] or [[Thread (yarn)|thread]].{{cn|date = January 2022}} Historically, bobbins were made out of natural materials such as [[wood]],<ref name =TOFA111021/> or [[bone]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lemin |first1=Brian |title=English Lace Bobbins and their History. A Brief Overview|url=https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/webdocs/lb_bob1.pdf |access-date=21 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230620163411/https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/webdocs/lb_bob1.pdf |archive-date=20 June 2023 |quote=They can be made from wood (mostly), bone, brass, and more rarely pewter, silver and ivory. |url-status=live}}</ref> While not in principle an invention of the [[Victorian era]] - bobbins in the production of textiles were in earlier use<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.westlancashirelacemakers.org.uk/additional-information/lace-history-and-information/the-history-of-bobbin-lace  |title=The History of Bobbin Lace |author=<!--Not stated-->|date=|website=West Lancashire Lacemakers |publisher=|access-date=2024-09-09|quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stott-park-bobbin-mill/history/#footnote-1  |title=Stott Park Bobbin Mill |author=<!--Not stated-->|date=|website=English Heritage |publisher=|access-date=2024-09-09|quote=}}</ref> - the machinery introduced in that era "were some of [its] greatest inventions" in that they "helped to revolutionize textile manufacturing".<ref name =TOFA111021/> In the machines used in such manufacturing,<blockquote>The automated weaving machines would have hundreds of spindles operating simultaneously, with each spindle holding a bobbin that either released or collected the thread. Most mills had wooden bobbins made specifically for their machinery, which accounts for the many varied shapes and sizes of these spools.<ref name =TOFA111021/></blockquote> In more modern times, natural bobbin materials such as wood are no longer used in textile manufacturing,<ref name =TOFA111021/> instead having been replaced by [[metal]] and [[plastic]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalsewingcircle.com/video/bobbin-sizes-understanding-sizes-bobbins-012121#:~:text=Types%20of%20Bobbins,machine%20manual%20to%20be%20sure.  |title=Understanding Different Bobbin Sizes|last=Humbach |first=Z. J.  |date=22 March 2023|website=National Sewing Circle |publisher=|access-date=2024-09-09|quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://worldofsewing.com/machine-accessories/bobbins/  |title= Bobbins |author= <!--Not stated-->|date=|website=World of Sewing |publisher=|access-date=2024-09-09|quote=}}</ref> The traditional bobbins made, for instance, of hardwoods such as ash and birch are unsuitable for the machinery of modern manufacturing, given the higher speeds involved, and the synthetic materials that are used in weaving; as well, bobbins were relatively customised parts made for the specific machines of each mill (and so of varying designs, each uniquely shaped of wood,<ref name =TOFA111021/> with metal parts in places of high wear{{cn|date = January 2022}}), thus requiring "a great deal of handwork" such that the cost of continuing to make them was unfavorable to modern textile business.<ref name =TOFA111021/> 

Since the retirement of the machinery involved, such bobbins and related parts have become items used in [[arts and crafts|craft]] productions, given the numbers of distinct types, and the fact that "[e]ach... has its own 'battle scars' that give it unique character".<ref name =TOFA111021/>