Flax leaves are fed into a flax stripping machine. This removes the green flesh, exposing the fibre. Hanks of fibre are then fed into a scutching machine, where beaters flail the fibre to refine it further. The operator is Gordon Burr, formerly an engineer at New Zealand Woolpack and Textiles Ltd in Foxton. Gordon later became custodian of the Foxton Flax Stripping Museum, which preserves relics and stories from the days when Foxton was at the centre of a booming flax industry.
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28 March 2012