I've been keeping my eyes open for old flax processing tools whenever I see antiques for sale. Unfortunately we stumbled across this one in Turkey. It was a bit too bulky and pointy to pack in with the luggage for the trip home, but I did at least snap a picture.
My husband spotted it in a little antique shop in the city of Gaziantep. Wish I could find things like that just as easily back here in the good ol' U.S.
With that lovely picture perhaps you could find a crafty person who could make you a replica.
ReplyDeleteHi Catofstripes!
ReplyDeleteGood idea - I'll have to work on finding a crafty person : )
Good idea about the replica. I might look into that too. I will be processing flax soon for a work project with Young Archaeologists (our first attempt). As a stop gap I had wondered, though, whether wool combs secured to something solid might work? A little 'Heath Robinson', I know...
ReplyDeleteHi Liz!
ReplyDeleteAfter looking at a flax processing video made by The Hermitage on youtube, I think this is actually a flax rippler. It gets the seeds off of the dried flax before it's retted.
The wool combs might work, especially if they are more than two pitches. I have four-pitch wool combs and was tempted to use them until I found an antique flax hackle on ebay that was in great shape and was reasonably priced.
Good luck with your flax processing with the Young Archaeologists! Sounds like lots of fun!
We have lots of wonderful hatchels at our shop...The Country Gallery in Rupert, VT! We will be at Renninger's Extravaganza in late Sept with all kinds of hatchels and flax breaks. On our website, we have painted flax knives and stands.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.country-gallery.com/flaxtools.html or call me at 802 934 7753 Janet
Hi Janet and Borge!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info - I'll keep your comment here in case other people are searching for flax tools.