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Grey guards

Once they are white, one only needs to clean we them
well, then put them in the fire, & make them pass to blue. And one
needs to take good care that they do not pass too far beyond blue, for
neither gold nor silver nor any color would take on it. To do this,
which is called making them pass, one takes
a cauldron full of ashes which one covers with
thoroughly lit charcoal, & thus one heats them quite strongly for an
hour or two, and when the ashes are very hot,
one pulls the charcoal to one side & one puts the guard where the
charcoal was, & one covers it completely with ashes. And when
the body of the guard, which is the main thing, is completely passed,
one rotates the guard onto the other side, and in this manner, the grey
cannot pass too much, unless some hot charcoal touches it. The
grey can be done well in the ordinary fire in the
fireplace, but there is a danger that it may pass too much &
produce filth which will prevent it from taking color. Blue is
obtained as soon as the ash has heated the guards a little, but
it is still grey in some places. After blue comes grey.


Color of water

For the color of water, one passes a soft file
on the guards to whiten them, then the burnisher. Next, one
makes them pass to blue until they turn grey. Next, when they are still
moderately hot, one passes the bloodstone over them, and when
they cool, one turns them to reheat them, for the color of water is made
only in several passes. And if the guards were not warm, the
bloodstone would scrape & undo the color. One needs to take
heed that guards do not pass too far beyond grey, for they would throw
off filth that would prevent the color from taking. One needs almost one
day for preparing, softening, & setting the
color of water, but as they pass a little beyond blue, it is enough for
grey & another color. Grey is the lesser color after varnish
which is of two colors, either yellow or black.


Yellow varnish

One whitens very strongly & one cleans the guards well. Next,
one applies walnutolive oil all
over them with a feather while they are cold, and next one
needs to turn them over a good charcoal fire that is on the
furbishers' furnace, without them touching the
charcoal or the ash. And when they do not smoke anymore,
it is done.

