The National Flax Museum in the city of Kortrijk, which is located in the Flanders region of Belgium, is dedicated to the history of flax processing. In the nineteenth century, Kortrijk became a large, wealthy city due to its role in the flax and wool trade. The industry virtually collapsed in the 1960s and most of the 200 factories have been demolished, although flax processing never fully died out in the region. The National Flax Museum speaks to the rich history of the textile industry in the Flanders region and allows visitors to retrace the history of the process.1 The waters of Kortrijk's River Leie were well suited to retting and bleaching flax. Flax workers placed the fiber in the river to ret, then removed and stacked it in cone-shaped bundles called ‘chapels' in order to dry and bleach the fiber. There is a two-step process for removing the usable portion of the fiber from its woody core. First, the flax straw is crushed to break the woody part of the stem (boon) into small pieces (shives). This method is called breaking. Second, the shives are removed from the usable fiber in a process called scutching. Until about 1870, many flax workers in the Flanders region had scutching sheds next to their homes in order to process flax for personal use. The Flax Brake: Then and Now suzanne sawyer Man (identified as William Cunningham) operating a flax brake behind the North Andover Historical Society, North Andover, Massachusetts. Gelatin silver print, c. 1960. \[0000.363.4\] Collection American Textile History Museum, Lowell, Massachusetts. The tools for flax breaking have developed over time from the use of a rock or stick, to a breaking mallet, and then to the flax brake used in Flanders during the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries. The brake consists of a series of stationary wooden blades and a handle attached to a second series of wooden blades that is raised and lowered to crush the dried flax fiber. Later, a double brake was developed which contains two sets of brakes—one with larger blades and one with smaller blades. The fiber is crushed in the larger of the two and then by the smaller of the two before moving to a scutching station. The double brake was succeeded by a simple machine with fluted hard wood rollers and a hand crank.2 Helmut Becker, Research Coordinator of the Reintroduction of Flax from Field to Finished Product in Midwestern Ontario, and Professor Emeritus of Visual Arts at the University of Western Ontario, built a flax brake (for Yukon artist/papermaker Helen O'Connor) based on historical examples he has collected in his research. He is most fond of a brake design that incorporates three wooden knives at the top and five at the bottom. He reports that it is more effective than one with fewer wooden knife blades.3 Cave Paper of Minnesota currently uses flax fiber processed and imported from Belgium but would also like to use locally grown flax. "Flax is being grown all over Northern Minnesota for its seed and often the stalks are burned just to get rid of them," explained Degener. "The stalks are what the papermaker utilizes so not using the stalks seems like a waste of our natural resources."4 For most hand papermakers the traditional flax brake is a sufficient tool to process plenty of flax for working. But for a production studio like Cave, the traditional flax brake is not practical. Degener has enlisted the help of nearby farmer and machinist Gene Treder to develop a machine to remove flax straw in large quantities. Degener has known Treder for over a decade. He invented a machine that removes the shell and nut from black walnut hulls. He sells the shells for commercial use in processes similar to sand blasting, and gives Degener the brown hulls which she uses to dye handmade paper. "With Gene's machine know-how and Helmut's advice," says Degener, "We are trying to develop a machine…perhaps something like a decorticator or more like the later fluted roller machine used in Flanders." Helmut Becker has tested water-retted flax fiber on a new, multi-fluted roller extractor designed by Jim Hill at Hill Agra Machinery, Horning Mills, Ontario. For those in the United States interested in developing this type of flax processing, Becker recommends a visit to the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), in Clemson, South Carolina, the in-house research arm of the USDA which hosts a one-of-a-kind research laboratory for fiber-processing equipment.5 The lab's mission is to allow for both federal and private sector research related to the utilization of natural fibers.6 Antique flax brakes can still be found throughout the United States. The American Textile History Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts boasts that they have thirteen in their collection alone, mostly from the early to middle nineteenth century.7 There are also many fine resources for understanding flax processing as well as for constructing a flax brake of one's own. Becker recommends Flax in Flanders Throughout the Centuries by Bert Dewilde, for the history of flax processing; Hemp! for Textile Artists by Cheryl Kolander, for a working drawing to build a flax brake; and Linda Heinrich's Linen From Flax Seed to Woven Cloth in which there is an illustration of a simplified flax breaking machine with fluted rollers built by a Swedish craftsman.8 The centuries-old design of the flax brake is equally as useful today for the papermaker or textile artist wishing to process flax from field to final product. It is a low-tech solution that satisfies the artist desiring to use local materials and the craftsman who prefers to maintain historical practices as part of the craft. The author wishes to extend thanks to Helmut Becker and Amanda Degener for their generosity of time and information. Also, a special thanks is extended to Karen Herbaugh for her willingness to research and provide images for this article. ___________ notes 1. The National Flax Museum Kortrijk is listed on the European Route of Industrial Heritage website, http://www.erih.net/nc/european-theme-rou tes/textiles/ (accessed December 24, 2011). The URL of the museum's An antique beech wood flax brake in Helmut Becker's collection. Photo by and courtesy of Helmut Becker. website is http://www.kortrijk.be/flaxmuseum (accessed December 24, 2011). 2. The National Flax Museum Kortrijk museum guide, 12–13. 3. Helmut Becker, e-mail message to the author, November 23, 2011. 4. Amanda Degener, e-mail message to the author, November 23, 2011. 5. Helmut Becker, e-mail message to Amanda Degener and the author, December 15, 2011. 6. USDA's Agricultural Research Service website, http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/ main.htm (accessed December 10, 2011). 7. Karen Herbaugh, Curator at American Textile History Museum, e-mail message to the author, December 5, 2011. 8. Helmut Becker, e-mail message to Amanda Degener, November 7, 2011 and e-mail message to the author, November 23, 2011.
