Braille Sea Turtle Counting Abacus
99 kr. incl. VAT .
Printed to order. Allow a few extra days before it ships.
A print-in-place sea turtle whose shell rim is an abacus: ten captive sliding tiles teach counting the rekenrek way, with a braille and print word plate on the spine.
Prefer to print it yourself? The STL is a free download on its model page.
- Size
- Abacus turtle: about 230 mm. Flexi turtle: about 180 mm. The source scales from 120 to 400 mm with braille held at true size.
- Material
- White PLA as standard, finished by hand.
- Delivery
- I make this to order in Denmark; shipping is shown at checkout.
- Returns
- 14-day right of withdrawal on printed items. See returns.
See this design in 3D
The interactive 3D preview is optional. I include the written description, photos and printed details on this page, so you do not need the preview to understand the design. It only loads when you activate it.
About this piece
After my braille crocodile I wanted a sea turtle, and while I was wondering what the scutes of a turtle shell could actually do, the answer turned out to be: they can count. The marginal scutes along the shell rim became the beads of an abacus, and the turtle became a counting frame you can hold in one hand. Five tiles slide along a covered rail on each side of the shell, ten in all, arranged like a rekenrek: two rows of five. Slide tiles toward the head to count them; the gap in the row is what your fingers read. One full side is five, so eight is felt as a full side plus three, and whatever stays behind is automatically the friend of ten. The tiles are completely captive: each one stands inside a roofed gallery and reaches through a slot in the rim rail, so nothing can fall out, be swallowed or get lost. There are no springs and no loose parts, just tiles that slide with a satisfying scrape and stay where you put them. And it is still every bit a sea turtle: a head that swings side to side, long front flippers on ball joints in a gliding pose, rear flippers on captive ring joints, carved scute seams across the dome, and a raised spine plate with the word TURTLE in ISO 17049 braille and raised capitals. The files also include the flexi variant without the abacus, with all four flippers on ball joints for maximum wiggle. Everything prints in place, fully assembled.
Why I made it this way
- I turned the shell rim into a rekenrek: two rows of five tiles, so numbers are felt as fives and friends of ten.
- I made every tile captive in a roofed gallery, so nothing falls out, gets swallowed or gets lost.
- I put TURTLE on the spine twice, in signage-grade braille and raised capitals.
- I kept it a proper sea turtle, with swinging head, gliding flippers and carved scutes.
- I designed both turtles end to end in screen-reader-accessible OpenSCAD.
What arrives
If you choose a printed option, your turtle arrives with all ten tiles sliding smoothly and every joint freed. Want another word on the shell plate, or another colour? Contact me before ordering.
Printing and finishing
I print each turtle to order in Denmark, flat on its belly with a little tree support. I free the tiles and joints, check the braille plate and pack it safely.
Returns and digital files
Printed items have a 14-day right of withdrawal, plus your 2-year complaint right.
Payment is taken securely through Stripe, so I never see your card details. Questions first? Contact me.
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