.STL Digital File for Printing - The 'Big Bead' Tatting Shuttle

This is an .STL file for you to use to print your own Big Bead Tatting Shuttle.

The Big Bead shuttle is designed for bead work, thicker thread and tatters with limited dexterity in mind who may struggle with a smaller shuttle.

To create this shuttle, you will need a 4x10mm screw eye pin, wire cutters, sanders/files and a small hand drill (normally sold for model making). Inserting the screw eye pin is optional and, if you choose to not insert it, you will only require sanders and files to smooth the shuttle after printing. To assemble the bobbin you will require glue. I favour T-8000 but whatever glue you like to use with your prints should be fine. A deburrer is helpful but not essential.

This uses PLA filament and has not been tested with any other filament types. Most rigid filaments which have similar strength and flex to PLA should be fine.

This shuttle does not have a hole for inserting a small hook in the end for picots.

It does, however, have an internal guide hole for the insertion of the internal eyelet hook.

This listing includes the file for both the Big Bead shuttle AND its bobbins. To purchase the file for only the bobbins, please see my other listings.

This is not a physical shuttle, this is a digital file for printing one on a 3D printer.

I do not grant permission for this file or any items made using it to be sold.

This is for personal use only.

* None of my .STL files are for the hook versions of shuttles. The reasoning for this is that different printers and filament brands will print the same file and produce a shuttle with slightly different final measurements. The holes in the end of my hook shuttles are designed to fit the specific type of hook I stock when printed on my own printers. This took a lot of trial and error and fine-tuning to get the resulting measurements and tolerances just right, so that the hole is big enough to accommodate the hook but not so big that it moves around when glued in (we're talking tenths of a millimetre here, it's wild!). That tenth of a millimetre tolerance is far below the likely variation between different makes and models of 3D printers and filaments, not to mention the variation in different crochet hooks people may want to use. The likelihood that the hook will not fit, not to mention how tricky and fiddly it can be to glue it in, makes me unwilling to sell the hook versions of my shuttles since I don't want to disappoint anyone whose printer won't work within the necessary tolerances or who have a hook that is too thin or thick.
Some customers have had success in using a hand drill or melting a hole in the tips of their shuttles and inserting a hook that way, and I am fully in support of that (wear proper safety gear if you do that though!). I hope you all understand ❤️