Here follows a list of all the tatting shuttles I own; I will be adding more to this page as my collection grows. For now I mainly have modern store-bought shuttles, but some day when (if) I become a grownup with a steady income I will go shuttle hunting in all the antique shops and second-hand stores in town :)
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This is my very first shuttle, the one I learned to tat with. It has belonged to my great grandmother, so it's pretty old. I'm not sure what it's made of, but it looks like horn or bone. The blades are semi-translucent with (more or less) straight lines running lengthwise from end to end. The post is made of wood and attached with two metal pins. The blades are warped, but the tips are still very tight. The shuttle is 7cm/2.7'' long.
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Plated brass filigree shuttle. Bought on eBay. A heavy shuttle, but I like the weight of it. Some of the edges are a little rough, and the tips on one end don't touch. Works best with threads size 10 or thicker. 6.5cm/2.5'' long.
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Black horn shuttle with phoenix etching. Made by Peter Cua, bought from Tatting & Design. A very neat and lightweight shuttle. Very tight ends, works best for finer threads. The etching has lately started to "rise" and tends to catch the thread if I don't hold the shuttle a certain way. I don't want to ruin the etching, so I probably won't use it much longer. 5cm/2'' long.
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Plain shaded horn shuttle. Made by Peter Cua, bought from Tatting & Design. Very comfortable to work with. The ends are not as tight as on the phoenix. 5cm/2'' long.
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Sew Mate shuttles, both with and without point. Bought from Nordic Needle. I bought them in sets of five and split them with my mother, and later I bought a single lime green shuttle from Tatting & Design. It has 'Lacis' printed on it; the other ones are blank. The pointed shuttles have a some rough edges, and the points tend to frizzle up the thread when unpicking stitches. They are, however, very good for joining (for that same reason). The lime green shuttle has a lot smoother edges than the rest, and the point is also sharper. The pointed shuttles are 8cm/3.1'' long, the pointless (haha!) shuttles are 7cm/2.7'' long.
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Amber Clover shuttles. Bought from Tatting & Design. These come in packs of two and are marked with a gold and a silver dot to keep them apart. Very light and pleasant to work with. About 5.5cm/2.1'' long.
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Brown horn shuttle with dragon etching. Made by Peter Cua, bought from Tatting & Design. The post on this shuttle is taller than on the other horn shuttles, so it is a "fat" little shuttle. The etching on this one has been somewhat raised from the beginning, which makes it a bit hard to use. I have tested it once, but this is definitely another shuttle for my collection. 5cm/2'' long.
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Pointed Clover shuttles in five bright (fluorescent) colors. Bought from Roseground. The points on these shuttles are very sharp, so beware! The edges and points are very nice and smooth, so much so that I find them a little hard to use for joins. They are, however, great for picking up stitches. About 6.5cm/2.5'' long.
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Imitation tortoise shell Clover shuttles. Bought from Tatting & Design. These come in packs of two, and are marked with gold and silver dots just like the amber Clovers. Same size as the pointed Clovers above.
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Aero bobbin shuttle (made in Germany). Bought from Tatting & Design. Has a steel crochet hook on the front and a post for winding the bobbins on the back end. Comes with an extra bobbin in the pack (but also available without this). Extra bobbins are available. The bobbin post is mostly in the way and slows down my tatting, I suspect it will be more comfortable to work with if I snip the post off and file down the edges. 8cm/3.1'' long.
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Milward bobbin shuttle (blue, next to the Aero). Bought at a local yarn/craft store. Basically the same design as the Aero, but it is a teeny bit shorter and fatter (though the bobbins are practically identical to the Aero's), the hook is possibly a little larger, and the post on the back is too big to hold the bobbins for winding. In other words, the post is utterly useless and can just as well be snipped off (I use my original Aero to wind all the bobbins). Also the plastic feels softer and smoother than the Aero. About 8cm/3.1'' long.
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Prym shuttles. Bought at a local yarn store. I have only found these two colors, dark purple and lavender. The blades can be taken apart, though I don't really understand why. Possibly to easily remove any thread left on the shuttle when you're done. The post is very short, so the shuttle holds little thread, and it also makes it hard to see how much thread you have left (it gets very dark in there). About 6cm/2.3'' long.
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Boye metal shuttle with bobbin. Bought from Lacis. A very heavy shuttle, but alright to work with. Extra bobbins are available. The bobbin does not spin very easily in the shuttle, and it can only be used with thread that can stand a good yank. Also the thread can get caught between the bobbin and the shuttle, which can leave black and unremovable stains on your thread. I guess the shuttle can be cleaned every now and then to avoid this problem, but perhaps it is best to only use it with darker colors. It can be a little painful to remove the bobbin from the shuttle (it's relly stuck in there), but getting it in is no problem. The hook on the front is not a proper crochet hook, but a flat point of metal with a "bump" on one side, and is pretty much useless for joining with small picots. About 7.5cm/2.9'' long.
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Pointed plastic shuttle from Lacis. Bought from Lacis (duh!). A long and narrow shuttle, about the size of a Sew Mate. The post is a little shorter, plus it is almost as wide as the shuttle blades, so it holds less thread than I had expected from a shuttle this size. Straight from the plastic bag it is also very dusty, but that can be wiped off. The hole in the post needs sanding if I am to get any thread through it. You can get these in eight different colors; this one is "rose". 8cm/3.1'' long.
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Clover shuttles in new pastel colors. I got mine from a Japanese site, but they are now available at Handy Hands, so I expect they will be sold at other places later. They are exacly the same as the other pointed Clovers.
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Pony bobbin shuttles.
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Aero post shuttle. Bought used on eBay. It came in the package (opened) with a separate little crochet hook for joining. It has "Germany" printed on it. It looks like it should be possible to take the blades apart, but they seem to be stuck. Maybe it has been glued, I don't know.
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Unnamed bobbin shuttle. Bought at a local yarn store. It was sold in an unmarked plastic bag, and unfortunately nobody in the store could tell me what brand it is. Both the shuttle and bobbin are identical to the Aero in every way, except that the shuttle has no print, and it is purple (lavender). The bobbin is a darker purple, and is also the same make as the Aero bobbins.
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More later...
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