Bidspirit auction | Hand-Forged Iron & Wood Flax

Hand-Forged Iron & Wood Flax Hetchel - 18 inches. An antique flax hetchel, also known as a flax hackle or comb, used for processing raw fibers into linen. The tool features a dense array of vertically oriented, hand-forged iron spikes with tapered tips. These spikes are set into a rectangular wooden base. The wood is encased in a protective sheet iron wrap secured with small metal tacks. The sheet metal casing features decorative punched borders consisting of small circular marks. Within the metal surface are larger irregular indentations, including characters that appear to read C O D. The wooden base extends at both ends to form mounting wings, each with a square hand-cut hole for bolting the tool to a bench.