The smaller swift does actually open and close smoothly you just needed to get more familiar with it, I prefer the smaller one because it fits in my bag and I can bring it with me on trips and it takes up very little space and works just as well as any other swift, it does exactly what it’s supposed to do. I agree about the clamp, except I don’t like either one of them so I use an Irwin quick clamp, you just squeeze the handle and it tightens down, it holds the base of the swift quite well also

Thanks for doing this comparison - I'm considering buying a winder and swift and this was super helpful.

I prefer the smaller swift of the two in this video as well, although perhaps that's because I've always previously used an Amish-style swift, which doesn't require a clamp, but does require a LOT of tabletop space. I just received my first wooden winder (from Etsy) and a tabletop swift similar to the generic Amazon swift in the video (mine was from eBay). I've checked my swift, and have no problem opening it up to hold a hank of yarn. Not sure if the new winder has a clamp or not (if it does, it's probably similar to that on the generic Amazon swift). I broke the clamp on a previous winder, trying to fasten the clamp over the "lip" on the underside of the edge of a card table; I plan to use the new winder on the desk in my craft room, which has a much thinner tabletop (and no "lip"), so it should work whether a clamp is required or not. (When I was pricing wooden winders & swifts last month, I saw a combo on Amazon at the same price as the generic Amazon one shown here -- and it might not even have been during the recent March "Prime Deal Days", either!)

This was very helpful! Thanks for making this review!

How we can contact you to promote our ball bearing winder because no one make the one we do.

Thanks for the comparison. It looks like there are several knock-offs sold on Amazon that copy the original Lykke ball winder design. Based on your review plus my opinion that Amazon encourages or at least doesn't penalize people who rip off good designs, I'll only consider the genuine Lykke version.

I've always wondered! Thank you.

I think the darker swift has the locking tool in the wrong place. If you were to reassemble it and put it below the "arms" that hold the yarn, it would probably work better.

If you want to do something exciting , try the inanosa ball winder

I have an Estelle ball winder and the screw on the crank part does the same thing! 😡

❤❤❤❤❤😊

The scratching of the screw is annoying? You should be in my head when I hear your voice croaking and frying away.