Scutching flax used to be hard work
Scutching is the final stage in the flax process in which the hard woody pith is separated from the soft flax fibre. Since scutching used to be a heavy, dusty and labour-intensive job, people looked for ways of making scutching easier and quicker. It is not surprising that in the Kortrijk region, which had the most know-how in flax processing, new methods emerged to facilitate and speed up the work.
Innovative technique
The inventive local Ivo Deprez applied some ingenious techniques to the principle of the post mill. He pierced the post of the mill and placed a metal drive shaft in the cavity. This shaft transmits the powerful mill movement to the scutching wheel via a cam wheel and drive belt. The vertical post that carries the weight of the mill, therefore, does not rotate itself, as is the case in other post mills. Only the metal shaft inside the post transmits the rotating movement to the grinder.
Another important component was its 'regulators' which helped regulate the wind energy. It was important for the scutching to be done evenly, irrespective of the wind force. That is why Ivo fitted special regulators on the vanes, which are – to all intents and purposes – aerodynamic valves that can regulate the speed, depending on the strength of the wind.