I knew that you guys would come through with some good ideas. Sometimes it just takes one person to say, "hey, I'm having an issue with this technique" and you see that more than one person has similar issues.

I was using .30 round lead on the bobbin and it was fine for the 6, 8 and 10s, but I wanted to try a little smaller lead and bought a spool of .20 and it is were the problems started. I think it is like when I tied most with 6/0 thread and then switched to 8/0 I broke it often until I developed the touch.

After posting this question I played with the lead today. I found I had more problems if I tried to wrap more than 4 or 5 wraps because of the twist that is induced by the way I wrap. So I wrapped 4 times, and rotated the spool by hand for another 4 wraps. With the lighter wire it is definately more technique specific than the heavier wire.

I find the bobbin saves material for me too. I never throw away any pieces of lead.

Still open to more comments and thanks to all who contributed.

Note: I have already ordered some .25 lead that should be here next week.