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Sand

One can find an excellent one on the little hill of
Puy David near Thoulouse
for lead, tin & copper. It does not want to be
too reheated much because, drying out all at once, it loses its
stickiness & burns at the first arrival of metal, which makes
the work lumpy & not neat. It is better to reheat from a distance,
rather than with a straw flame, which generates
des some filth. Before filling in the box
mold, you can put in the finest sand you have in a very fine
linen, & pound the medal dry and then the moistened sand
that you put on top, which has more body, will grip it.

Tallow makes it porous.

Fixed mercury mixed in when one wants to cast, makes
metallead run. But if it is pure, one ought to cast
very hot so that it runs, and vents.


Earth for molding

Tanner's earth, or the one with which
potters make a whitening on pots to make lead run
better on them & to prevent the lead from being absorbed into
them, is very good for molding the cavities of things you want mold in
relief. It releases better than plaster or sulphur which
become hard once they have set. For the earth being ready, one
ought to be beat hard so that it does not crack. If the piece is very
large you can mould it in several parts. If you reheat it, it is
necessary that it be over a closed fire. One finds this earth at
Fosseret & in another place
called Ox.


Plaster

It is necessary that it be well heated, which you will recognize
when cooking it in an iron or metal skillet, you
mix it with an iron rod, & if it attaches to the
iron, it is not heated enough, if not, it is good. The
water with which you moisten should be a little warm & the
mold made with the aforesaid earth also a little hot.
The work of plaster does not last & the faces & delicate
things break if one does not give a coat of glue.


Carton

One ought to take paper from Florence, which is the
finest, & crush it & soak it several times & change the
waterevery day, so that it does not smell bad, &
since you will have moulded it in the cavity, put a
linen over it, & from the back, rub the back of the
paper with a tooth, as if you wanted to burnish it, and
it will mould very neatly. Then glue the cloth on the back
with strong glue. 

