Flax hackler
John Boyle
Category
Agricultural and horticultural equipment
Date
1998
Materials
Metal, Wood
Measurements
1330 mm (Width) x 680 mm (Depth); 860 mm (Length)
Place of origin
Springhill
Order this imageCollection
Wellbrook Beetling Mill, County Tyrone
NT 283306
Summary
A flax hackler consisting of a wooden trestle stand onto which are bolted a series of upstanding metal nails on two wooden blocks and a third wooden block fitted with wire brush bristles. The hackler is used to draw the flax fibre through the nails or the wire bristles, the spacing between these becoming finer, in order to produce the short fibre known as 'tow'. The hackling process separates the seed-bolls from the stem of the flax plant. Made by John Boyle, estate joiner at Springhill, c.1998, as part of the interpretation of Wellbrook Beetling Mill and the history of linen manufacture.
Makers and roles
John Boyle, joiner