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Molding grasshoppers and things too thin

If you have a written paper to mold, which is too thin, after
you have made the first cast & it has set, give a little thickness
to the reverse of your paper with melted butter, which is
the most appropriate means there is, & for fortifying the wings of
either a butterfly or a grasshopper, or some delicate
part of an animal to which you need to give thickness. But take heed to
apply this melted butter underneath the wing or in whichever
place it cannot be seen. For giving thickness to a pansy or
other flowers, butter is not good, but rather wheat
oil, which is soon dry & holds firm. Wax would not be
appropriate here for it is too hot once melted, & it makes the thing
to which it is applied contract. But butter is amiable and
handleable.

If you write on paper or on
common carton& that your
letter is with gum, the humidity of the clay
slab or the wet sand for noyau will moisten your
letter& undo it. Therefore write with
cinnabar wettened with oil, on oiled paper
&impress.

+Reheat your
molds with charcoals,firstly lit in the forge,
in order that the fire is not so hot & does not break the
molds. And do not make as much fire where the mold is
thin, like in the place where it is thick.


Molds

Make some notches, with these, that enter more in the inside of the
mold than on the outside, for in this way, they have more
strength. Keep from reheating in one go & in a too ardent fire, for
this makes them melt break.

Do not keep them in a humid or
enclosed place if they are not well dry, for they go moldy. So do
dried animals.

@One ought not to reheat molds
twice when the animal can be removed without burning, like a
toad, which can well be molded hollow like all thick animals.
However, it is always good to redden the mold once.


Lute for luting your molds

I have not found one that is made more quickly than this one, nor
better. Take this lean earth of which the founders of artillery
& bells make their trusseaulx and
molds, which is lean & sandy. Wet it
e moderately like a very thick mortar. Mix in
it about halfhorse dung & then have it
beaten well. Next, mix in a third part of discarded cloth
waste or cloth shavings, and beat it again quite strongly.
You can reheat your mold as soon as the lute is
placed.

