This section is from the book "The Manufacture Of Boots And Shoes: Being A Modern Treatise Of All The Processes Of Making And Manufacturing Footgear", by F. Y. Golding. Also available from Amazon: The Manufacture Of Boots And Shoes.
These are sometimes termed thread controllers. They act as safety-valves, and if they are too stiff or light the stitches slip, and if too weak the thread is troublesome to work.
 
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