strange shuttle

[gahorsley]

ok folks--see if you can give me some background info....I acquired a shuttle last year at a garage sale....it is metal with a bobbin (I think it may be a Boye, if not looks like it). The bobbin comes out, but is attached to an arm, so it never leaves the shuttle. Does this make sense? Anyway, I have neve seen another like it, even on e-bay, so now I come to you experts for information.

[DJtatt]

Can you post a pic?

[Crnp55]

That sounds like a very early Boye. You don't see many of them so cherish it. Lucky you!
Arlene

[gahorsley]

i'll try and post a pic in the next couple of days...it really is a strange creature! Thanks for the info Crnp55. Have you ever seen one? I can't find anything about them anywhere.

[xstchntat]

I have seen one on ebay a couple of months ago and it was made by Boye with the swing out bobbin. The idea was to make the bobbin easier to wind and still be attached to the shuttle. It came before the new and improved one that the patent was granted for on April 17th, 1923.

[gahorsley]

oooh thanks for the info Racheal! That's more than I have been able to find. So it must be really old!

[Imoshen]

Is this by any chance it? If it is, it's a Boyle tatting shuttle I think the year would be 1917? Don't quote me on the year.

[xstchntat]

Is this by any chance it?Attachment 4798 If it is, it's a Boyle tatting shuttle I think the year would be 1917? Don't quote me on the year.

The attachment didn't work for me.

[gahorsley]

YES and now I can't find it! I am almost sick......I thought I gave it to my husband to clean up and put a drop of oil on the thing but he says he can't remember me doing that. Now we have to wait and see if it appears on his workbench, in which case I DID give it to him. The sad thing is he has a memory like an elephant, so if he doesn't remember, then I probably didn't give it to him. wHERE o where is my shuttle!

[Lynn]

Hi, Imoshen. Doncha just love typos? That's a Boye shuttle, not a Boyle. I'm kinda picky, cause Boye is my all time favorite shuttle. Not the bobbin ones, but the original red plastic ones with the long pick on the end. (They subsequently made a blue one and a different shade of red, but those later shuttles were not the same caliber.) That bobbin looks like it may not be easy to use, don't you think? I know some metal bobbins will eat the thread and make black marks on it. I wonder if this was part of the reason Boye stopped the manufacture of this swing arm bobbin in favor of the totally removable ones. It would be interesting to know that history.

Gahorsley, take a deep breath. Several of them. Relax with your preferred beverage and do something totally unrelated to tatting. Get a good night's sleep. Let your subconscious take over the shuttle hunt.