How to make a tatting shuttle

This one is made from Plywood, about 3mm thick. I am not uploading a template, as I hope to sell these, but you can make your own shape. I have made mine around 65mm (2 and a half inches) long.

1. Materials I used were: 3mm plywood. – electric drill – sand paper, both heavy and light – hand saw – varnish

2 Design your shape and trace onto plywood. Placement of holes and slots can also be made at this time.

3. Cut out shape with hand saw.

4. Drill pilot holes with a smaller drill first.

5. With a larger drill, drill a hole half way through the shuttle. Then turn it over and complete the hole. This stops it splitting the wood.

6. This could have been done at the same time as I cut out the shape, but I cut the slots at this stage. Then I sanded the whole thing with a rough grit sandpaper, and then with fine sandpaper.

7. To get it really smooth so their are no rough edges to snag the cotton onto, I varnish it twice, sanding it with fine sandpaper inbetween each coat. Hang it by a wire to dry. Water based varnish dries quite quickly too.