Scutching
Encyclopedia
Scutching is a step in the dressing of flax
in preparation for spinning
. The scutching process is the first attempt to remove the straw and woody stem from the flax fibers. The flax fibers that are spun are inside the woody stalk, so to obtain the fibers the stalk must be removed. Scutching can be done both by hand or by machine in a scutching mill. Hand scutching is done with a wooden scutching knife and a small iron scraper. The end products of scutching are the long flax fibers, short coarser fibers called tow
and waste woody matter called shive.
Dressing is the broad term referring to removing the fibers from the straw and cleaning it enough to be spun. It happens after the flax has been retted
, and involves breaking, scutching and heckling the flax. Scutching is the second step in dressing, and takes place between August and December.
flax takes longer to scutch. Retting removes the pectins that bind the fibers to the stalk and each other, so under-retted flax is harder to separate from the stalk, and often gets damaged in the scutching process. Over-retting the flax causes the flax fibers to deteriorate, thus causing the fibers to break during scutching.
In the scutching process some of the fiber is also scutched away along with the stalk, a normal part of the process.
A modern scutching machine can process up to 500 kilograms (1,102.3 lb) of flax every hour, and produces about 70 kilograms (154.3 lb) of flax fibers and 30 kilograms (66.1 lb) of tow
. Older machines create more waste.
The scutching machine passes the cotton through a pair of rollers, then strikes it with iron or steel bars called beaters. The beaters, which turn very quickly, strike the cotton hard and knock the seeds out. This process is done over a series of parallel bars, allowing the seeds to fall through. At the same time air is blown across the bars, which carries the cotton into a cotton chamber.
Flax
Flax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent...
in preparation for spinning
Spinning (textiles)
Spinning is a major industry. It is part of the textile manufacturing process where three types of fibre are converted into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. The textiles are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. There are three industrial processes available to spin yarn, and a...
. The scutching process is the first attempt to remove the straw and woody stem from the flax fibers. The flax fibers that are spun are inside the woody stalk, so to obtain the fibers the stalk must be removed. Scutching can be done both by hand or by machine in a scutching mill. Hand scutching is done with a wooden scutching knife and a small iron scraper. The end products of scutching are the long flax fibers, short coarser fibers called tow
Tow
In the composites industry, a tow is an untwisted bundle of continuous filaments, and it refers to man-made fibres, particularly carbon fibres ....
and waste woody matter called shive.
Dressing is the broad term referring to removing the fibers from the straw and cleaning it enough to be spun. It happens after the flax has been retted
Retting
Retting is a process employing the action of micro-organisms and moisture on plants to dissolve or rot away much of the cellular tissues and pectins surrounding bast-fibre bundles, and so facilitating separation of the fibre from the stem...
, and involves breaking, scutching and heckling the flax. Scutching is the second step in dressing, and takes place between August and December.
By hand
The scutching knife is scraped down with a sharp strike against the fibers while they hang vertically. The edge of the knife is scraped along the fibers to pull away pieces of the stalk. This is repeated until all of the stalk has been removed and the flax is smooth and silky. When scutching was done by hand people could scutch up to 15 pounds (6.8 kg) of flax in one day, though the amount depended on the quality of the flax. Coarser flax, harder flax and poorly rettedRetting
Retting is a process employing the action of micro-organisms and moisture on plants to dissolve or rot away much of the cellular tissues and pectins surrounding bast-fibre bundles, and so facilitating separation of the fibre from the stem...
flax takes longer to scutch. Retting removes the pectins that bind the fibers to the stalk and each other, so under-retted flax is harder to separate from the stalk, and often gets damaged in the scutching process. Over-retting the flax causes the flax fibers to deteriorate, thus causing the fibers to break during scutching.
In the scutching process some of the fiber is also scutched away along with the stalk, a normal part of the process.
By machine
Scutching is done several ways by machine. Scutching mills started in Ireland, and were commonly used there by 1850, at a time when hand scutching was still common in Continental Europe. Machine scutching, while faster and cheaper, causes more waste than scutching by hand. One method of machine scutching is to crush the stalks between two metal rollers which break the stalks so that parts of the stalk can be separated.A modern scutching machine can process up to 500 kilograms (1,102.3 lb) of flax every hour, and produces about 70 kilograms (154.3 lb) of flax fibers and 30 kilograms (66.1 lb) of tow
Tow
In the composites industry, a tow is an untwisted bundle of continuous filaments, and it refers to man-made fibres, particularly carbon fibres ....
. Older machines create more waste.
Cotton scutching
Scutching can also refer to the process of cleaning cotton of its seeds and other impurities. A scutching machine for cotton was first invented in 1797, but didn't get much attention until it was introduced in Manchester in 1808 or 1809. By 1816 it had been generally adopted.The scutching machine passes the cotton through a pair of rollers, then strikes it with iron or steel bars called beaters. The beaters, which turn very quickly, strike the cotton hard and knock the seeds out. This process is done over a series of parallel bars, allowing the seeds to fall through. At the same time air is blown across the bars, which carries the cotton into a cotton chamber.
See also
- Hand processing flax
- Preparing flax for spinning
- Heckling (flax)Heckling (flax)Heckling splits and straightens the flax fibers, as well as removing the fibrous core and impurities from flax. Heckling is done with heckling combs by pulling the flax through the combs. This parts the locked fibers and makes them straight, clean, and ready to spin. After heckling, the flax is...
- Linen production