#neolithictech — Public Fediverse posts

I feel that I'm getting close to being able to start a friction fire. This time I got plenty of smoke, but my string broke before I got a stable ember.

The irony is that I used a synthetic string for the bow because I'm trying to do this on "easy mode", but I'm pretty sure one of my own hand twisted strings would have held up better.

#neolithicTech #firebow #fireStarting

Here's all the dried, retted #yucca bundled up on the left. On the right is the finished product from my last batch. Beautiful, strong, cream coloured fibres.

To get there now just requires a lot of manual working of the bundle, followed by lots of and lots brushing.

This isn't particularly hard, but it is time consuming, so it's best done with company, and definitely done outside (it produces lots of chaff).

If you've got a crafts fair, ren faire, or other outdoors event in #Narrm #Melbourne that's broadly aligned with my values and would benefit from a fibre processing demonstration, hit me up.

Otherwise I'll likely be cleaning and dressing these fibres the next time I'm camping or at a picnic with friends. ❤️

#fibre #fibreArt #NeolithicTech #solarpunk #foragingAustralia #urbanForaging

Here's all the dried, retted #yucca bundled up on the left. On the right is the finished product from my last batch. Beautiful, strong, cream coloured fibres.

To get there now just requires a lot of manual working of the bundle, followed by lots of and lots brushing.

This isn't particularly hard, but it is time consuming, so it's best done with company, and definitely done outside (it produces lots of chaff).

If you've got a crafts fair, ren faire, or other outdoors event in #Narrm #Melbourne that's broadly aligned with my values and would benefit from a fibre processing demonstration, hit me up.

Otherwise I'll likely be cleaning and dressing these fibres the next time I'm camping or at a picnic with friends. ❤️

#fibre #fibreArt #NeolithicTech #solarpunk #foragingAustralia #urbanForaging

Here's all the dried, retted #yucca bundled up on the left. On the right is the finished product from my last batch. Beautiful, strong, cream coloured fibres.

To get there now just requires a lot of manual working of the bundle, followed by lots of and lots brushing.

This isn't particularly hard, but it is time consuming, so it's best done with company, and definitely done outside (it produces lots of chaff).

If you've got a crafts fair, ren faire, or other outdoors event in #Narrm #Melbourne that's broadly aligned with my values and would benefit from a fibre processing demonstration, hit me up.

Otherwise I'll likely be cleaning and dressing these fibres the next time I'm camping or at a picnic with friends. ❤️

#fibre #fibreArt #NeolithicTech #solarpunk #foragingAustralia #urbanForaging

Here's all the dried, retted #yucca bundled up on the left. On the right is the finished product from my last batch. Beautiful, strong, cream coloured fibres.

To get there now just requires a lot of manual working of the bundle, followed by lots of and lots brushing.

This isn't particularly hard, but it is time consuming, so it's best done with company, and definitely done outside (it produces lots of chaff).

If you've got a crafts fair, ren faire, or other outdoors event in #Narrm #Melbourne that's broadly aligned with my values and would benefit from a fibre processing demonstration, hit me up.

Otherwise I'll likely be cleaning and dressing these fibres the next time I'm camping or at a picnic with friends. ❤️

#fibre #fibreArt #NeolithicTech #solarpunk #foragingAustralia #urbanForaging

Here's all the dried, retted #yucca bundled up on the left. On the right is the finished product from my last batch. Beautiful, strong, cream coloured fibres.

To get there now just requires a lot of manual working of the bundle, followed by lots of and lots brushing.

This isn't particularly hard, but it is time consuming, so it's best done with company, and definitely done outside (it produces lots of chaff).

If you've got a crafts fair, ren faire, or other outdoors event in #Narrm #Melbourne that's broadly aligned with my values and would benefit from a fibre processing demonstration, hit me up.

Otherwise I'll likely be cleaning and dressing these fibres the next time I'm camping or at a picnic with friends. ❤️

#fibre #fibreArt #NeolithicTech #solarpunk #foragingAustralia #urbanForaging

@BrambleBearGrrrauwling : That's a great question! General plans for the yucca fibres are:

- Short and defective fibres go to the spinning wheel, to help me learn spinning. The resulting cordage is then three-plied together to form rope, since that's forgiving of inconsistencies.

- Some of the really nice fibres are dyed and hand-twisted into fine thread, which is then waxed and used for repairs.

- The other really good fibres in theory are going on the wheel when I get better at spinning. If that works, they'll then go on the loom.

- I want to learn net-making, and I feel like waxed yucca thread would work really well for this.

- I also want to twist a bowstring, but I'll want to make a self bow first.

#NeolithicTech #yucca #fibre

The yucca is mostly dry, and the next steps are scutching (removing the coarse material from the fibres) and heckling (brushing the fibres to remove fine material and straighten them).

I do most of these steps on the line or at the work-stump, but I'm willing to change up locations when my assistant wants to help.

🧵

#fibre #NeolithicTech #catsOfMastodon

The weather is getting nice, and my family has started to complain about the smell, which means it's time to take my retting yucca leaves and hang them up on the line.

I'm trying a less-effort run with these. I've scraped a few bundles to remove the retted matter, but the rest I've hung as-is. I'm cautiously optimistic that they'll just brush out when they're dry.

You can see what the process looks like in full in this thread: https://cloudisland.nz/@pjf/113625891996716616

#fibre #FibreArts #NeolithicTech #retting #foraging #ForagingAustralia #UrbanForaging

Y'all, I met an indigo dyer today¹, and I just so happened to have some yucca fibre with me, and they just so happened to be kind enough to dip the fibres twice in an indigo bath, and THEY TURNED OUT SO BEAUTIFUL!

It's like mermaid hair! And I hand twisted a little thread with it, and I love it!!

#fibre #neolithicTech #indigo

🧵

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¹ I promised not to reveal they let me dye my fibre, so I'm asking right now if I can share their deets here on the fediverse.

Oh gosh, I've been hand-twisting the yucca fibres while on my train trip, and they are *lovely* to work with. Soft, clean, and pliable.

Clean in particular is a lovely experience. I work with a lot of raw fibres that still have some vegetative matter attached, a lot of which comes away with the twisting process. These yucca result in much less dust, and a much more pliable cord. ❤️

🧵

#fibre #neolithicTech #fibreArt

After a summer's afternoon drying, I took down the fibres and spent maybe five or ten minutes manually working them to break up the remaining chaff, as well as a few strokes with the cat brush on the base to open things up a yet.

This isn't yet their final form, but it's getting close to it. A solid brushing session and they'll be ready!

I'm really glad how these turned out, especially since I put in way less effort at the start of the process.

🧵

#neolithicTech #fibre

The fibres still need just a little more time to finish drying¹, but a little test carding is looking extremely promising! #NeolithicTech #fibre

🧵

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¹ The ends are still wet, which causes my carding paddles to catch, and also the chaff we want to remove doesn't flake off nicely unless it's really dry. That's why the bottom end of the fibres are whiter and cleaner than the top. They should be consistently white once they're fully processed.

It's a few days later. The retting bath doesn't smell much any more, although the flies are all over it so maybe I've just become used to the smell.

The yucca leaves have been removed and given a good scrape. My scapula kept snapping, so I had to switch to a stone tool (not shown) part way through.

The scraped fibres are then rinsed, and hung out on the line to dry. Then we'll scrape, comb, and wash them some more.

🧵

#NeolithicTech #fibre

Two weeks later, and this second batch of yucca leaves definitely *smells* ripe, but the leaves aren't *quite* there yet.

I've taken them out, scraped them all with a rock, rinsed them many times until the water ran almost clear, and put them back in to soak for a few more days.

Honestly with a bit more labour I could get fibres from them, but I'm lazy, and after this scrape the flesh should soften up pretty quick.

🧵

#NeolithicTech #fibre

Garden waste to fibre, round two, let's go!!!

Today we're using yucca from green waste, an axe, and a tub.

I've chopped off the ends of the yucca, and pounded them with the back of the axe to bruise them.

They're now soaking for a week so microbial action can eat away the pulp and loosen the fibres.

There's no detergent here. Yucca contains natural saponins that can be used like soap.

Previous thread is here: https://cloudisland.nz/@pjf/113529177215175664

and here: https://cloudisland.nz/@pjf/113535353936853749

🧵

#NeolithicTech

Here's a yucca before and after picture for fibre extraction.

First shot is public domain courtesy Moriori¹, but is identical to the plant I harvested my leaves from.

Second is today after finishing the process.

Fun fact: Sisal is a species related to yucca, grown specifically for its fibres, and was heavily used for rope-making!

#NeolithicTech #fibre #fiber

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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yucca_filamentosa.jpg

And here's the final yucca fibre!

First pic is dried but not brushed. It's got lots of cruft and stuck fibres.

The second and third are after using my cat's brush. You can see the ones that brushed out in the background, but the ones that didn't are soft and luxurious.

There's still some dried matter to work out at the ends, but otherwise they're ready to be spun/woven/plied.

#NeolithicTech #fibre #fiber #fibreArts #FiberArts

I'm retting (soaking) some pounded yucca leaves for fibre. I don't think I'd previously appreciated just how high the saponin content in these are!

Saponins are fat and water soluble molecules which plants produce to deter predators. Like modern detergents, they foam in water, can remove grease and stains, and taste really bad.

Fish are very sensitive to saponins, and they've been traditionally used to stun/kill fish, which can then be collected as they float to the surface.

#NeolithicTech

OMG. Today I both discovered that @butserancientfarm is on Mastodon, *and* they boosted one of my baskets!!

Butser Ancient Farm is going to be the first place I go if I ever make it back to the UK. I keep watching videos of the work they're doing there, and people I admire hosting workshops, so having them boost anything of mine feels very, very special. ❤️

#NeolithicTech

@rueckrufportal
Alle Rückrufe für #FFP2 #FFP3 #N95 #Masken seit Januar 2024:

NEO­LI­THIC TECH (#NeolithicTech)
- DOC-​TNC DOC2021030802

Guang­dong Gol­den Lea­ves Tech­no­lo­gy De­ve­lop­ment (#GuangdongGoldenLeaves #SkyScreen)
- Sky Screen FFP3
NR 6661 (Produktionsdatum 2022-​1-​5)

best me­di­cal (#BestMedical)
- #King­fa FFP3 LOT-​Num­mer: 25015916
- Kingfa KA-​A F11 (RF-​TD-​3) FFP3 NR
- Kingfa KF-​A F11(RF-​TD-​3) Char­ge: 25015916

Basketing on public transport continues!

#basket #basketry #BasketWeaving #NeolithicTech

Progress on the #basket I'm making on public transport. This is the base, and once I'm sure it's large enough to fit a sandwich, I'll start adding sides at right angles to it.

This piece is a little special because I'm doing it entirely without tools (except for the little bamboo fibre holder you can see). The ends of my dried yucca leaves are tough enough to act as their own needless.

Yucca wraps, with yucca and palm fill.

#Basketry #BasketWeaving #NeolithicTech

Here's my most time-consuming coil #basket. Made from yucca fibre, with one continuous piece of two-ply twist string. It's extremely tough and hardy.

Added the handle later (yucca string and a small piece of bone), with some help from my #BasketWeaving assistant.

#NeolithicTech

It's been a few months with the cedar bast out in the weather, partially with the hope that the resin might come out, and partially because I forgot about it. 😅

The resin has formed little globs, so it's still *very* sticky to work with, but the resulting fibres genuinely feel super strong, and make some very nice feeling cordage.

I feel if I wanted some strong, weatherproof, and somewhat sticky rope, this cedar bast feels like it would make a great choice.

#neolithicTech #fibre

Me: "Oh yeah, I won't have to bring any fibres with me. I can collect raw plant fibres anywhere."

The beautiful frozen urban landscape I'm now in: "Lol"

#NeolithicTech

After almost a month of retting in the plastic pond, the inner fibres from my cedar bark has (mostly) loosened.

Some feel like they've retted a bit too long, others not long enough, but I've stripped them out and will now let them dry for a bit while I travel. After that I think I'll pound and separate?

There's still a ton of resin when handling them, but I discovered that dissolves nicely in vegetable oil, so I don't have sticky hands for a week now.

#fibre #neolithicTech

More adventures with Aotearoa New Zealand Flax. Here's a leaf I've partially pounded, washed, and dried, so you can see the fibres.

This seems to be a different species to what I was working with previously, the leaves are larger and the fibres more coarse, so I think this might be the mountain flax I've been hearing about.

Not as nice to work with as the other leaves I've been processing green, hence the pounding and washing. Would make for excellent basketry, though.

#neolithicTech #fibre

Here's a couple of weeks of idle hand-twisted cordage. Two-ply twist using Aotearoa New Zealand flax¹.

Axe for scale.

#fibre #NeolithicTech #cordage

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¹ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phormium

After a couple of days, the water is brown and actually smells... kinda nice! But I really enjoy the smell of cedar, so that makes sense.

There are tiny droplets of oil on the surface, which gives me hope that the processed bast fibres might not be *too* sticky.

Fibres aren't ready to release yet, so I've changed the water and will check back in a few days.

#fibre #NeolithicTech 🧵

Retting is a relatively long process, so I'll pause the thread here and we'll catch up in a few days (or later!) to see how things are coming along.

In the meantime, here's the fabulous @sallypointer 's lime bast harvest video from 2022, which shows the process much better than I ever could:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=x-oVz8OZCJ4

And here's the result! Fingers crossed I get anything near this good:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sXYo0t_W-hs

#neolithicTech #fibre 🧵