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Molding promptly and reducing a hollow to a relief

You can imprint the relief of a medal in colored wax, &
you will have a hollow, in which you can cast en noyau a relief
of your sand, on which you will make a hollow of lead
or tin, in which you will cast a wax relief. And then on
that wax you will make your mold in a hollow
noyau, to cast in it the relief of gold &
silver or any other metal you like. But to hasten your
work if you are in a hurry, make the first imprint & hollow in
bread pith, prepared as you know, which will mold very neatly.
And into that, cast melted wax, which will give you a beautiful
relief, on which you will make your noyau.


Very light and hollow work of gold

Cast a lizard or any medal you like in base silver,
like billon. Next gild it lightly. And once the first
gilding is done & dried by fire, quicken, rub with a
scratch-brush, & make another layer of light gilding
like the first time, & do thus three or four times or more,
according to the thickness you want to give. And then, having made a
small hole in the least visible place, put your work into good
aquafortis, which penetrating to the silver through the hole
will eat it all away without damaging the gold, so that you will
have a lizard hollow to its nails, or any other work, so light
that by blowing you will agitate it. But take heed not to make the layer
of amalgamated gold all at once, or of hardly any thickness each
time, because that would block the small features; but proceeding
therein as said, lightly & several times, and cleaning
well, you would do well.


In order for the aquafortis to eat away better, it is necessary
to cast cast in base silver.


Chasing

Lead is so fat & soft that one cannot strike it boldly,
& one needs to have a very light hand. The other great
metals are easier. With a burin called
onglet you make & retrace the more delicate lines,
with the ordinary engraving burin the broader ones, and with
the chaple, you remove the big fins, and with the
chisels you soften the harshness of the lines, you smooth, you
add relief to a line.

