Hetchel

Object/Artifact

-

Windham Textile and History Museum

Hetchel, front view: The image depicts an old wooden hetchel, used in textile production, placed on a wooden surface. The tool consists of a rectangular wooden base with a dense array of sharp, upright spikes or pins affixed in the center. These metal spikes are rusted and show signs of wear, suggesting age and frequent use. The tool's wooden base is aged and marked with stains and scratches, reflecting its history and long-term use in preparing fibers like flax. The surrounding surface features a similar wooden texture with visible grain patterns and subtle imperfections, possibly indicating a workshop setting with natural light highlighting the scene.
Hetchel, front view

The image depicts an old wooden hetchel, used in textile production, placed on a wooden surface. The tool consists of a rectangular wooden base with a dense array of sharp, upright spikes or pins affixed in the center. These metal spikes are rusted and show signs of wear, suggesting age and frequent use. The tool's wooden base is aged and marked with stains and scratches, reflecting its history and long-term use in preparing fibers like flax. The surrounding surface features a similar wooden texture with visible grain patterns and subtle imperfections, possibly indicating a workshop setting with natural light highlighting the scene.

Name/Title

Hetchel

Entry/Object ID

2024.75.01

Description

Hetchel (a.k.a, hatchel, hackle). It has a heavy wooden base of hardwood, possibly maple. The tines were made of iron, as are several nails used to repair the base at some point when it had split. The sheet metal used to hold the tines in place is unusual, not found on most hetchels; it is possibly tin or iron.

Use

A hetchel, hatchel, hackle, or flax comb is a preindustrial tool used for separating flax fibers. Flax has fibers in it’s stem. Users draw the stems through the hetchel to separate out the fibers. Once the fibers are separated from the rest of the stems, they could be pulled through the tines (iron spikes or pins) of even finer hetchels, to make the fibers themselves finer. Depending on the fineness desired, the fibers could be pulled through a succession of hetchels, with ever smaller, finer tines. This hetchel has large tines and thus is designed to be used in the early stages of the process of separating the fibers from the rest of the stems.

Context

The many different tools used in preindustrial textile manufacturing illustrate the nature of hand and home production. Preindustrial textile production was arduous and time-consuming, with many steps and tools that had to be mastered.

Collection

General Collection

Made/Created

Time Period

18th Century

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Hatchel

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Comb, Textile

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Textile Manufacturing Equipment

Nomenclature Class

Textileworking T&E

Nomenclature Category

Category 04: Tools & Equipment for Materials

Dimensions

Height

6 in

Width

6 in

Length

20 in

Materials

Material

Wood, Iron

Material Notes

Wood is possibly maple. Sheeting is possibly tin or iron.

Location

Location

Exhibit Room

Thread Mill Square

* Untyped Location

Main Museum Building

Category

Exhibit

Date

December 15, 2024

Condition

Overall Condition

Good

Date Examined

Dec 15, 2024

Examined By

Eves, J.

Cleanliness

Cleaned by staff during processing. Warm water with Murphy's Oil Soap.

Created By

historian@millmuseum.org

Create Date

December 15, 2024

Updated By

historian@millmuseum.org

Update Date

December 15, 2024