Why choose our Swift?
Our line of Swifts and Skein-winders is the best and most flexible in the industry.
That's a pretty big statement so allow us to show you what we mean.
What is the purpose of a Swift?
Typically, it is used to hold varying sizes of yarn skeins so the user can wind off the yarn onto a ball winder. It can be used for other purposes as well, but no matter what, it is designed to hold a skein of yarn.
Here are some "must haves" for a swift in our opinion:
It must securely attach to a table surface or be mounted on a floor stand.
It must hold skeins with circumferences from 1 to 2 yards. The ability to hold smaller or larger amounts is also an advantage.
The Swift must have adjustable yarn guides so the unit can accommodate any size skein between the lower and upper limits. The more adjustment capability, the better.
The yarn guides must be sturdy and not prone to failure. They should be able to hold at least 4-5 ounces of yarn, and upwards of a pound would be best.
The yarn must be removable from various angles off of the Swift to accommodate different equipment setups or other requirements of the user.
Here are additional requirements for a Skein-Winder:
Must be able to measure the yarn being wound onto the unit. Measurements must be in # of rotations at a minimum, but preferrably, it should be able to measure yards and ideally meters as well.
It must have a sturdy handle that is easily and comfortably accessible to the user.
It must have an attachment device for the yarn to be attached to (to facilitate the initial winding action).
It must be strong and secure since the user will be winding the unit by hand or by motor.
A motor option is highly desireable.
The arms that wind the skeins onto them should be able to be set to a specific circumferences so that the user can set the size of the skein to be wound.
If the unit can be used on both a table and on a floor stand is a plus.
An option for winding more than one skein at a time is highly desireable.
NKK Swifts and Skein-winders meet all the requirement on the left.
In fact, we go way beyond that list.
In 2006 we designed our World famous Heavy Duty Ball Winder. We then set out to design a Heavy Duty Swift and Skein-winder. Why? Because we knew that most of the popular brands were made from enhanced popsicle sticks and string and these were not appropriate for heavy duty commercial users like yarn shops.
We also knew that the orientation of an umbrella swift was less than ideal for the user because they had to reach over the top of the unit to load the skein. Plus, at the end of the skein, they had to step back to avoid being hit by the umbrella swift popping up as the last of the yarn was released from the unit.
Also, wooden umbrella swifts were infamous for the following failures:
Tightening nut stripped out
Strings that connected the wooden "sticks" broke often.
There were other types of swifts including squirrel cage, table top , etc., etc. These were all neat and clever and interesting. But NONE of these were worthy of being declared as a true commercial swift or skein-winder. They always had some weakness (or 2) when it came to heavy duty commercial use. The best unit that we had ever seen was made by a deceased designer that we do not have a name for. But this gentleman had designed a vertical swift that was mounted on a floor stand. Although we did not like various elements of his design, we liked his overall approach. We knew that if we designed a vertical swift that we were on the right path.
We then got to work. We used maple hardwood, aluminum, and steel. Plus more high quality USA made adjustment knobs than anyone else. We will go thru the different aspects of the design in the section below.
Suffice it to say, however, that having developed the Heavy Duty Ball Winder, Power Base, and Electronic Yarn Meter, educated us to the task of designing the World's best Swift and Skein-Winder family which is excactly what we did.