The hemp processing equipment restored by Mr Franco Risi, which is now on display at the museum, comprises three machines:
- The Hofherr Schrantz Clayton Shuttleworth portable engine, which you can read about on a dedicated page on this website.
- The ‘Ferriani’ decorticator for hemp
-The ‘Ferriani’ kneader for hemp.

The portable engine was tasked with generating energy, which took place by spinning the flywheel, while the decorticator first and then the kneader had the task of transforming the hemp plants into fibres that could be used for weaving.
This equipment was featured at numerous events in which Mr Franco Risi and his associates demonstrated the age-old method of processing hemp by generating the fibres that skilled weavers used to create textiles in front of intrigued spectators.
The ‘Ferriani’ decorticator for hemp was purchased on a farming estate in Migliarino, near the municipality of Ostellato, in the province of Ferrara, in 1995.
The machine was in good condition.
Repairs involved the wooden parts that required routine maintenance and some mechanical components that required functional adjustments.
The ‘Ferriani’ kneader or cleaning machine for hemp, instead, is said to have come from a farming estate in San Giorgio di Piano, in the province of Bologna, where Mr Franco Risi inspected it and purchased it in 1990.
At the time of purchase, the condition of the machine was such that it required routine maintenance to the wooden parts and some mechanical repairs.
It goes without saying that the hemp processing equipment described above is all in perfect working order.