Orbit Mini Rotator
- Cuffs
- Rotator
- X-base
- All-nighter
- 5 hr
- 240 beads
A small rotator: a black bumper cage with a purple ring that actually spins around the wrist. No character, no mascot, just an orbit. Draft until it is filmed — a still photo cannot show the one thing that makes it worth the six hours.
What it looks like finished
No photo of this one yet, so it stays out of the index. Build it from the tutorial — the counts below are the formula, not a chart.
What you need
Estimated for 8 connectors (24-bead base).
| Color | Beads |
|---|---|
| UV Purple | 240 |
| Total | 240 |
- Cord
- 650 cm (256 in), including slack for the knot
- Two layers over a 24-bead base: 8 connectors, 4 rows of 24 each way.
- Plus a 24-bead outer ring on its own bridge round, so it spins.
- Estimated, not counted off a chart: sizing, bead brand and tension all move it. Pull 10% more than this.
Get the beads
Neon Bright Mix Pony Beads (500pcs)
BeadTin240 beads in total
The multicolor bag most charts on this site are built around. Fluorescent neon, so it lights up under a blacklight instead of going gray at 1 a.m. — 9mm barrel beads that run true to size.
View on BeadTin$2.89 / 500 beads · checked 2026-08-30Mixed Sunshine Pony Beads, UV color-changing (200pcs)
BeadTin240 × uv purple in this pattern
These are the sun-reactive kind: white indoors, saturated the second you walk outside. A daytime-set trick, not a blacklight one — for blacklight you want the neon bags above.
View on BeadTin$4.29 / 200 beads · checked 2026-08-301mm White Stretch Cord, 90m spool
BeadTin650 cm (256 in) per piece
The default cord on this site — every cord length in every bead count assumes 1mm. One spool is dozens of singles or a handful of cuffs before you reorder.
View on BeadTin$4.99 / 90m · checked 2026-08-30
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Everything we buy, in one place: beads.
How to make it
- 1Cut the cordCut 650 cm (256 in) of 1 mm elastic cord. The extra is what you hold on to while you string — you trim it at the end.
- 2Start from a closed singleString a single as two base beads then one connector bead, repeated until it fits — a count that divides by three, usually 30 to 36. Tie two or three tight knots, cut the short tail and keep the other end long as your working cord.
- 3Net the Xs round the singleCome out of a connector, add three beads, skip the two base beads and go through the next connector. All the way round. Then come out of the middle bead of each group and add base–connector–base into the next middle bead — that round is where the X appears. Repeat for height: 1 rows of 1 beads here.
- 4Rim the top edge and knot offAdd two beads between each pair of neighbouring points so the top edge sits flat, then knot the working cord two or three times round a nearby cord bridge, weave the tail through a couple of beads and trim.
- 5Tie it offSurgeon’s knot, pull it into the gap between two beads, then a dab of clear glue. Trim the tails once it is dry.
Never done this stitch before? Build an X-Base · A Tie-Off That Survives a Weekend