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Founders’ earth

It is terre bolbene mixed with dung or
cloth waste, which withstand fire, which you need to always have
provision of, to lute your molds which ont
b must be used to cast silver & that you need to
reheat. Those, where one needs to burn some flower or animal, should not
be luted, until they have been reheated once and they have been cleaned
from bones & ashes remaining inside, and having
removed the clamps, you have opened the two halves to see if
they have any cracks. For there is some plaster that is not so
hard in the fire, the one as much as the other. Moreover, there is some
which makes crusty the things which stay burning inside. And these are
imperfections that one needs to avoid, either by by bathing
well with eau-de-vie the animal before casting in the wet sand,
or mixing in more or less brick, or alum, or reheating the
brick more, or in place of the brick, mixing in
crucible bottoms & similar things which resist well
in the fire. Having therefore reheated your mold to burn it
inside, leave to cool well. And if it is neat & not cracked, reput
the clamps & lute with this above mentioned
founders’ earth & sprinkle a little sifted ash
& let dry a little. But keep yourself from luting that they are
not until the molds are cold. Those for casting
silver, where there is nothing to burn inside, only need, except
when the gate & vents are made, luting & reheating once. Do not
lute the end of the mold where you want to make your gate,
rather leave it uncovered & the exit of the vent as well. 

Ifthe moldsthat were
doto crack, it is make thus at the
first reheating, for at the second, they no longer crack.

The smallestmolds are reheated more quickly.
Take the therefore the first ones reheated when you cast, for
you can put several of them to reheat.

Light the charcoals, firstly in the forge, or in some other
place nearby, & having placed your molds on a layer of good
embers, not burning too much, to have a slow fire at the beginning, put
there & adjust a little the half-lit charcoals in the
forge.


The earth that founders use to braze or solder, which
is sandy clay earth, or else clay mixed with sand, after
having dried & sieved & then composed it, is good for
luting your molds, because this earth melts rather than
cracks. And any earth that melts is cannot be lacking
in this.

Iron wire to give it bond.

Lute thickly your molds, & if they are small, you can
reheat them immediately in a good fire, especially those of
crocum.


If the earth is good, & l does not crack
while reheating, & does not separate from the mold, the
molds will also not crack & will not make flaws at the
casting. Reheat with slow ease in a closed fire & do not expose them
hot to the air.


Lute rather thickly in two or three layers, especially right in the
joints, in order that the silver does not come out of the
mold. 


Reheat in a four de reverberation.


To test if your earth is good, before putting it on your
mold, lute at the place of the fo wall of
the forge which is around the tuelle &
barrel of the bellow, & light the fire and if it withstands
this without cracking, it will be good.

