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Picking up threads and messing around~Weaving threads is another skill

Long, almost transparent sheets with a cicada-like thickness are planed from the wood, cut into strand, and then twisted into " cypress straw " using a spinning wheel, and woven into hats, bags, mats and other handicrafts. This is the so-called " cypress straw " handicraft.

The twisting machine looks like a long bench with gears inside.

At the beginning, we need to organize the twisting machine. The rope at the back end of the iron hook is tied with an iron pendant, and the iron hook can be pulled back into position.

Next, soak the planed 90 cm long cypress straw wire in water.

Then wrap it around the side hook, twist the two pieces into a line, and have an iron nail in the middle to separate the two pieces of cypress straw.

Right-hand crank type rotating shaft rotates clockwise

The small board was pushed to the right, and the hand-cranked rotation axis stopped. It took many attempts to master the strength. Later, we worked in pairs, one turning and the other watching the movement of the board.

When the spinning wheel is operated, it is twisted from left to right to form a single thread, much like two threads working together to form a piece of cypress straw that can be woven and is stronger.

In fact, twisting the thread was more difficult than imagined. We worked together and worked carefully, but it still broke. We finally found a long enough cypress thread. After turning it by hand, the two strands of cypress thread were twisted into one, which was easy to break and become brittle. It turns out that the cypress used in Lukang at that time had its own purpose.

Every step requires labor and labor. It is hard to imagine how skilled these masters were in the legendary era of Lukang cypress straw Hat, and how skilled they were with practice.

In the legendary era of Lukang cypress straw Hat, everyone was a craftsman, and they exerted their patience, care and concentration to perfect their craftsmanship.
Perhaps we were not patient and attentive enough today. Everyone agreed that twisting thread was very difficult. It is because of experience that we can understand the belief and value of the previous masters who spent their whole lives insisting on doing one thing well.