[Fishaddict]

Have found that I do not like those types of thread tension devices. Like you, I found it very hard to get consistant tension. And it's almost impossible to use them with matallics. You can make your own carriage very easly out of a piece of threaded rod, and a few nuts, washers, and springs. I like this much better. Just make sure you have two washers together on each side of the spool to so it rolls nice and smooth. Use a wing nut to lock down the regular nut so it dosen't tighten up or loosen while the thread is spinning. Whole set up costs just a few dollars and and hour or so to put together. Might be worth a try.