Magnetic “No-Tie” Bow Tie

An easy to print “no-tie” bow tie that uses 12mm (½ inch) ribbon for the band and four 6x2mm magnets for the closure.

I originally designed this as a gift for a friend who loves bow ties and tech.

The band adjusts using a printed three bar slide and the bow tie closes at the front using magnets.

The halves of the bow tie are identical, just print two of them and one three bar slide. I recommend printing them standing up, back to back with tree support. They will also happily print flat if you’re having bed adhesion issues.

The holes are sized for 6x2mm neodymium magnets, with enough space for a drop of high viscosity super glue. Be careful with orientation as they are impossible to remove once glued.

To attach the band cut one and a half time your neck circumference of 12mm ribbon, attach it to the middle bar of the three bar slide (a knot will do but sewing looks better), thread it through the bar on the back of one half of the bow tie, back through the three bar slide (see detail photo above) and attach it to the bar on the other half of the bow tie.

The whole print takes less than two hours and will use around 4.1m of filament at 20% cubic fill. I used 20% cubic and a translucent filament for aesthetic reasons, it will happily print at 10% infill and be plenty strong enough.