Product Details

This is an antique wooden flax comb, also known as a hetchel or hatchel. It is a primitive farm tool used in the 18th and 19th centuries to process flax plants into fibers for making linen fabric. The raw flax stems were pulled through the sharp, hand-forged iron spikes to split, straighten, and clean the fibers. The process, called hackling, was typically performed using several combs with varying degrees of fineness to achieve the desired fiber quality. Please purchase responsibly if we do not accept cancellations.