Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I had decided to buy the Royal! I had done the research. I had seen it in use at 2 of my local yarn stores. It was the one all the kEwL kiDz were using. It was a no-brainer. Then I saw this one. Almost universal love for this thing? How could it be? It wasn't a Royal! It looks so...so...INDUSTRIAL. The deciding factor was this one could make much larger cakes. Not that I need to, but it would be nice to have the option of winding a really big cake 'o yarn. So, the wife and I, after much soul-searching, decided to take the plunge. I knew from the pictures that it is not a cute little winder. But, when I took it out of the box, I was not prepared for the seriousness of this piece of machinery. This is a real beast! It is not heavy, but it is solid! After the apocalypse, the only things left on earth are going to be roaches, leftover Twinkies and this thing! I tightened it down to the table and felt like I needed to put on safety glasses, a hard hat and steel-toed boots. I was in my LYS recently and they wound a hank for me. I watched as they used their Royal and it just looked like a toy to me now. This one does have a much different winding procedure than the Royal. It has an arm that rotates around the 'core'. You end up with a nice, smooth cake that is a bit larger than what the Royal produces. I could not be happier with the results. Two bits of advice on its use: 1) You need to be sure there is no real tension between the skein/swift and the arm where the winder. I think the revolving motion can cause the tension to increase. For me, it's a matter of pulling the yarn free as it winds. My wife and I make it a 2-person operation just because we can. If we had a swift I don't think this would be an issue. (We have only wound from skeins at this point. Until we acquire a swift we have the LYS wind any hanks we buy.) 2) As the end of the yarn comes past the support arm you need to be careful. If you keep winding the tail of yarn can get caught in the gears. It is no big deal, but why not prevent it by stopping a couple of inches short. I don't see it ever happening in real life, but I can see the possibility of someone really winding away and the yarn making a big tangled mess around the gears. (That person would deserve what they get for not paying attention!) In closing, the Royal is probably a fine piece of gear--I have no desire to denigrate it. But, for the same money, you can own this beast. You will have a REALLY SOLID winder that gives you the option wind a much bigger ball if you ever need to. July 2016 Edit to Add: Since I posted this review I have acquired a swift. I works great using the swift. The tension never seems to be a problem. (This assumes the hank is wound right. I have come across a couple that ended up a tangled mess because of the yarn being wound around itself in the hank.) I do have to be careful when I wind using the swift—if I get a bit heavy on the throttle the swift can go crazy. It's really great fun watching the swift spin round and round, right up until the point where the swift begins to disassemble itself. (I think this is more of a swift and/or operator enthusiasm error and has nothing to do with the winder.) It's still a superb winder and I could not be happier with it. Highly, highly recommended.