SCUTCHING 



131 



drums. A and B indicate the steel blades or teeth in the lower 

 and upper skeleton drums respectively ; C C are the spur 

 wheels which communicate motion through spur wheels D 

 combined with the bottom drums. E shows a portion of the 

 flax straw passing between the rotary blades. 



113. Machine Scutching. In machine scutching, a fixed 

 stock is required, as for hand scutching. Several scutching 

 blades are attached to a rotary wheel mounted on a long 

 driving shaft, according to the number of scutch wheels 



FIG. 81 



required. Scutch mills containing 4, 6, 8, and 12 wheels are 

 common, but the tendency is to centralize the scutching 

 operation, and mills are now being constructed to hold 60, 

 100 and more wheels. 



Fig. 81 shows a plan for eight scutch wheels, Irish pattern, 

 one rolling machine and the water wheel from which the power 

 is received. 



Fig. 82 shows a side elevation of one of the scutching wheels 

 and the " stock." 



Fig. 83, a front elevation of same. 



Figs. 84, 85, 86, and 87 indicate a few of the possible and 

 different methods of setting the blades in relation to the stock. 



