Swingle

n.

The wooden, knife-shaped tool used to scutch hemp, beating the stalks clean by hand.

Filed under Fiber & Processing

Related terms

Field Retting Rotting cut stalks where they lie in the field to loosen the fiber bonds. Functionally the same practice... Spin To twist loose fiber into a continuous thread. Retting Controlled rotting that breaks down the pectin binding bast fiber to the stalk core. Get it right and... Break To crush retted stalks so the hurd snaps free of the bast fiber. The first mechanical step after... Weave To interlace two sets of yarn at right angles on a loom to make cloth. Decortication Mechanically separating the bast fiber from the woody hurd. It is the bottleneck step in the North American...

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