Martin wrote:

On Wed, 01 Dec 2004 12:33:00 +0000, bigboard
wrote:

Martin wrote:

On Wed, 01 Dec 2004 11:26:43 +0000, bigboard
wrote:


I shall be processing by hand, so I hope to retain my fingers. You
probably already know, but on the subject of flaxen hair, the phrase
'tow headed' also derives from the flax industry. The tow is the
shorter, less fine fibres from the processed flax.

How are you intending to process the flax?

Retting on the lawn. (Leaving it to rot for a couple of weeks in the dew.)

Breaking the outer stem by hand.

Then separating the fibres with a home made comb. (Nails bashed through a
piece of baton.)

As you can see, it will all be most hi-tech!


Useful web site? http://www.nps.gov/colo/Jthanout/FlaxProd.html

Interesting, thanks. As this is the first time I will be attempting it,
I'm avidly reading everything I can on the subject. I've made cordage from
other fibres in the past, so I'm not too worried once I get to that stage.

It might be worth putting it in your car and driving to Brittany. It
was a major industry there at one time.


It was fairly major in East Anglia too, and that's a bit nearer! I've got
a lot of my information so far from various John Seymour books. He is the
cause of a lot of my problems/experiments.

Maybe I can find a photo of the machine, I know I took some.

It would be very interesting to see. I've only come across pictures of
processing by hand.

--
A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the
subject.
-- Winston Churchill