Our new flax scutching turbine is about to be launched.
After the success of the two previous machines we were ready to up our game. In 2024 we successfully applied for a DCMS Create grant from Innovate UK, to design and build a flax scutching turbine. This motorised machine does the breaking and scutching of retted flax straw, enabling the fibre to be extracted. It is a hugely laborious task by hand and having this machine means we will be able to get through the main bulk of the processing in a fraction of the time.
We began work on the flax scutching turbine in November 2024 . The design and build was led by Dave Webster, renowned marine engineer and Arthur Hamel, multi skilled carpenter and boat builder at the historic boatshed in Devonport, the home of heritage boat restorers, Stirling and Son. We will shortly be unveiling this beauty. It is still undergoing a few tweaks so for now we just have some teasing photos of parts of the construction.
