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Author Topic: Flax Fibers will Seal the Leaks and More  (Read 5663 times)

Donald

  • Joined Dec 2009
Flax Fibers will Seal the Leaks and More
« on: October 29, 2012, 09:09:55 am »
Hello,


The cooper would split a piece of reed and push it in there to seal the head but I'm not familiar with this material so I chose to seal it with flax fibers. Luckily I generally have flax on hand as is the case now but the fibers need shucking once the threshing is out of the way. I have come up with a handy little production method here for home processing.
https://vimeo.com/52320031


|Greetings,|


Don Wagstaff

lachlanandmarcus

  • Joined Aug 2010
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: Flax Fibers will Seal the Leaks and More
« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2012, 09:24:16 am »
reported as spam

Donald

  • Joined Dec 2009
Re: Flax Fibers will Seal the Leaks and More
« Reply #2 on: October 29, 2012, 09:26:12 am »
Hello,


Why would you do that?


Greetings,


Don Wagstaff

bloomer

  • Joined Aug 2010
  • leslie, fife
  • i have chickens, sheep and opinions!!!
Re: Flax Fibers will Seal the Leaks and More
« Reply #3 on: October 29, 2012, 09:27:55 am »
its not spam its a video about flax production its actually relevant, didn't watch whole video but enough to see.

Mammyshaz

  • Joined Feb 2012
  • Durham
Re: Flax Fibers will Seal the Leaks and More
« Reply #4 on: October 29, 2012, 12:44:33 pm »
An interesting bit of film 

lachlanandmarcus

  • Joined Aug 2010
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: Flax Fibers will Seal the Leaks and More
« Reply #5 on: October 29, 2012, 02:24:50 pm »
Hello,


Why would you do that?


Greetings,


Don Wagstaff
sorry to push button, the hello and then a sudden separate paragraph straight into the wording of the post was a bit odd / sort of looked like a cut and paste and came across as similar layout to lots of other posts on here that turn out to be  spam advertising for a product which use a cut and paste of info from a website to get past filters (I didnt click on the link as if it had been spam it would have probably had a virus in it).
was genuine concern not button pusher generally, I can (re-) assure you!
thanks for posting the info, the Wartime farm programme recently had some interesting coverage of flax processing which was very informative too.
 

Donald

  • Joined Dec 2009
Re: Flax Fibers will Seal the Leaks and More
« Reply #6 on: October 29, 2012, 03:57:54 pm »
Hello,


While I didn't like being called spam I must concede a certain non-compliance to formality in my posting. Maybe it was a cheap grab at publicity. I'm going to try and pick up on that program of war time farm though. Is that something like Victorian farm from a few years back now?


I'll fill in some gaps at any rate. You see I've been putting up the cider  - man, what a crop of apples here this year - and ran short on cider flessen so picked up a second hand firkin which needed then getting in order. On putting the head back in I decided to seal it with flax instead of bull rush which would normally be used there. So I hauled some flax down from the hay loft and shucked it which is what the film portrays.


But what's more is, how often this flax fiber comes in handy. And not, of course the fibers alone, that's only part of the story because you have the flax plant growing in the summer itself, which is beautiful - as the film shows - ok, and then maybe the best part is the seed you can press, getting the oil out. I've painted the whole barn with it plus use it for mixing paints and as a finnish in and of its self on tool handles and  grips. You know, I could go on about how I've put raw unprocessed stems in the floor screes as reinforcement - not to mention throwing some seed oil in there as well - and the chaff in the loam plasters. And now as winter seems to be at hand I'll be winterizing the summer door and the windows with the shorter, gnarled fibers from yesterday's shucking - there was a hand full of that left over, nothing goes to waste though. A good spinner could make you a fine shirt from it, not me though.


Greetings,


Don Wagstaff

deepinthewoods

  • Guest
Re: Flax Fibers will Seal the Leaks and More
« Reply #7 on: October 29, 2012, 04:00:17 pm »
hi donald and welcome. it sounds like you have some very interesting specialist skills, thanks for sharing, enjoy the forum! :tree:

bloomer

  • Joined Aug 2010
  • leslie, fife
  • i have chickens, sheep and opinions!!!
Re: Flax Fibers will Seal the Leaks and More
« Reply #8 on: October 29, 2012, 04:01:09 pm »
the wartime farm series is very good made by the same people who did victorian farm and edwardian farm, look for it on i-player it has been very good, although their flax crop failed as it was filmed this summer and got flooded!!!

lachlanandmarcus

  • Joined Aug 2010
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: Flax Fibers will Seal the Leaks and More
« Reply #9 on: October 29, 2012, 04:36:26 pm »
yes they had to use the next door farm's crop to show the processing, theirs was a washout!!
I always use (bought :-() linseed oil based paint - we are in the Cairngorms and it copes waaay better with the extremes of hot and cold that we get (down to -20 every winter at some point), and much better for animal buildings as non toxic. so am a fan!!
I dont know how long they will stay up for (they like to sell the DVDs of the series) but currently all the episodes of Wartime Farm are available to watch on the BBC iplayer by using this link
BBC iPlayer - Wartime Farm: Episode 8
(at the bottom of that episode 8 page are all the links to the other episodes - most recent ones first). It was a very good series, I thought better than the last Edwardian Farm one. Still love the first series (1600s, Tales from the Green Valley) best of all!
 
 

Donald

  • Joined Dec 2009
Re: Flax Fibers will Seal the Leaks and More
« Reply #10 on: October 30, 2012, 08:03:29 am »
Hello,


Of course it wasn't difficult to track down. The BBC channel  excludes viewers outside the UK and I don't blame them. You people do a great service providing information throughout the world through your tax contributions and should be proud.


hi donald and welcome. it sounds like you have some very interesting specialist skills, thanks for sharing, enjoy the forum! :tree:




Well, I appreciate the thought anyway. I don't have particular skills - well, I do but not really related to topics that interest us here - it is more a combination of low level of liquidity, a particular personal economy and no  desire to leave my land while trying to keep this little farm house going. But doesn't anybody at least use flax in stopping dripping water pipes? That you can't beat.


Greetings,


Don Wagstaff

lachlanandmarcus

  • Joined Aug 2010
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: Flax Fibers will Seal the Leaks and More
« Reply #11 on: October 30, 2012, 09:22:45 am »
Ahh I hadnt realised you were outside UK. One option if you did want to watch it and were looking for ideas for things for people to buy you for Christmas or birthday would be the DVD - I think you are in Europe so the region setting would work ok (region 2)
this one has all 3 of Victorian Edwardian and Wartime farm series  for £25ish + P&P or you can buy the Wartime farm by itself for about £18 +p&p. I know my parents get Amazon stuff delivered to France ok.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collection-Featuring-Victorian-Edwardian-Wartime/dp/B008NB6QEC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1351588751&sr=8-2

Polished Arrow

  • Joined Mar 2012
  • Forest of Dean
  • www.cinderhilllfarm.com
    • www.cinderhillfarm.com
Re: Flax Fibers will Seal the Leaks and More
« Reply #12 on: November 28, 2012, 09:17:41 pm »
Hi Donald  :wave:


I have to be honest and say I know very little about flax, and what it can be used for.  I must also admit that if I saw some growing, I wouldn't recognise it.  Donald, how about telling us some more about this crop, and how to use it?  How do you use it, for example, to repair leaks?  What else can we use it for?  Is it hard to grow?


My OH just seems to use PTFE tape...

www.cinderhillfarm.com

We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are.
Anais Nin

Donald

  • Joined Dec 2009
Re: Flax Fibers will Seal the Leaks and More
« Reply #13 on: November 29, 2012, 08:20:42 am »
Hello,
Some uses, so many uses. The plant itself, either alone or as a crop is attractive as can be seen.

So I like putting it in for no other reason than that. It is not easy to get started though because it must be kept weed free in the beginning. If you live where it's wet with a lot of rain like me you won't get a high quality crop, but still, its worthwhile.
The dried stocks themselves are useful as reinforcement if you are putting down a clay floor instead of other less mentionable reinforcement there.
Also for other clay plasters the chaff is ideal for putting in as a filler, insulator, and strengthener.
Extracting the long fibers opens up all kinds of other possibilities. If I want some rope that is very strong  I can twist or braid some of these fibers together. Separating some of these fibers I can wrap them around a threaded pipe connection, screw it together and ensure it will not leak. Sometimes it can take time for the fibers to swell and seal the leak so you have to wait but with the certainty that t will stop the drips. And unlike that silicone tape, if you have to unscrew the connection, no need to rewrap with new flax, just screw it back together and it will work. It must be possible to spin some nice thread, then to be woven,  if you possess those skills.
And then you have the seed, ok, save some for replanting and press the rest for oil and all that you can do with that.

Good for making paint, like this I put on my wheelbarrow.
or mixing with lime for window glazing.


Oh, to much to go on...


Greetings,


Don Wagstaff

 

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