My husband, Jack, is back in the work shop. He’s back to making more beautiful shuttles.
Jack found a cow horn in the garage that belonged to his dad. How long his dad had it or where he got it is unknown, but it’s been in our garage for awhile now. About a month ago Jack decided to make a horn shuttle out of it.
Jack watched several videos on YouTube to see how to work with horn as it’s a bit different than wood. The imperfections in the horn react differently than those in wood.
This shuttle is 3.24 inches long and 1 inch wide. He buffed this out to give it a sheen and make it smooth. I have decided that I will only use this while I’m sitting comfortably at home and use it only on projects done at home. No taking this baby somewhere I might drop it on a hard service!
You can see that the wood post is pretty short, but it will hold a nice amount of thread. He got the points just right to hold the thread in without unwinding when the shuttle is dropped to unwind a twist, but easy to wind the thread on.
There was plenty of horn left to make a second shuttle. Jack was experimenting with the material and things didn’t go quite as expected. The next shuttle blade he made was much smaller than he planned. I said give it a try anyway, see what you can do with it even if it’s a small shuttle.
Jack used the small piece for the bottom of the next shuttle. It’s interesting that the little divit in the small blade is in the right spot to give the thumb just a little bit of grip. This piece is 2 inches long and .75 inches wide.
The top blade of the shuttle is 2.5 inches long and .875 inches wide. The shuttle looks better in person and feels wonderful!
The wood post in this one is taller than the post of the larger shuttle. It’s placed in the location that best fits the curve of the two blades. I thought it might not tat well with the ‘overbite’ of the top blade, but it tats soooo nice.
Jack has also been making more wood shuttles. He finished another one out of redbud that is gorgeous!
Who knew that redbud wood was so beautiful? All of the shuttles he’s made with it have been amazing. This one is his best one yet. It is 2.75 inches long and .75 inches wide. He made this one with an ‘overbite’ on purpose.
Jack was able to center the post better on this one. This shuttle feels so smooth and light! I just like to hold it and feel it.
Isn’t it pretty?
Jack has two walnut shuttles almost done in the shop. I am looking forward to trying them.
There was a bit of a delay on finishing the Luther’s Rose pattern. My youngest daughter is moving for her work this weekend. We all thought it was going to be the end of September, not the beginning. My older daughter wanted to give her and the family a going away party, which had to be this weekend instead of in three weeks like we were thinking. I’m the closest to the party location, I don’t have any kids in school, and I’m retired, so I’m the one that did a lot of the planning and decoration making. With a short timeline other things got pushed back. I’ll have more time for the pattern again now.
I’ve also been tatting a few small snowflakes. They are easy and small, a little seed to get me in the mood for tatting for the Christmas season. I can’t believe how little time there is left to make everything I want to do! So now I’m busy again.
“The workshop to me always means great atmosphere, working, smell of wood, dust and, at the end of the day, you’ve created something.” David Linley