So I bought a yarn winder a couple of years ago and I printed an adapter for it to hold the paper tubes that hold the yarn as its run through the machine. It has plastic gears but the don’t have much wear and it had worked very well. I even upgraded the spindle for it. It gets used a lot. Just in the last week it’s wound 62,000 feet of yarn. So I started to imagine what would happen if it were to break. There’s 3 gears made of plastic, 3 axles, the spindle, a handle, a clamp, and a winding arm that could break or otherwise wear out.
The winder cost $53.23 in 2021. I decided to buy a second one just in case it became unusable. I can’t wind yarn without it so no rope can be made until it’s repaired or replaced. So I went to Amazon to look at my order history and the exact model I purchased previously was no longer available. I was disappointed that I couldn’t get an exact duplicate but I did order a very similar one for $40.53. I didn’t even realize it was $13 cheaper.
The design is nearly identical. The included spindle is the same and attaches the same. The clamp and handle are the same design. The only real difference is that the new one has metal gears. So I’m really glad I ordered this winder. I’ll make it the primary winder and store the old one as a backup. Can’t believe the new one has metal gears and cost $13 less than the one I got 2 years ago.