Making and Knowing
A minimal edition of BnF Ms Fr 640

[TOC] | [diplomatic]

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Lead casting

Those who cast those small works that are sold in front of churches, y melt one for one lb of tin half a pound of lead, & cast in stone, & if they want their work whiter, they put p half tin and half lead, but the first mixture is the best, & does not become porous. One needs to cast it rather hot, for otherwise, it would not flow. Others smoke their molds with a resin candle to cast neatly. The antimony makes the substance brittle & breakable. The looking—glass tin makes the work whiter, but not more runny, as for tin, it is good to the with pure lead. Those who make very neat lead casts, use bodkins. Pewterers cast in a copper mold. One says that one makes the lead stick on the glass with resin. Others put into the lead a quarter of tin. Looking glass tin renders the work stronger.

at left top margin

Poncet. They cast with soldering that pewterers glass—makers use.

Lump of iron Shells of iron oyster,calcined.

Sand for lead casting

Rye straw ashes well boiled then dried & then well sieved. Alloy it with egg white. One can cast there copper, latten and other things.

Other

Burnt & calcined pumice stone, burnt & calcined cuttlefish bones, in the same quantity; & ashes of walnut tree or vine, boiled, dried & finely sieved alloy with egg white.

Pewterers

They put into one quintal of fine tin one lb of looking glass tin, which renders the tin thicker. There are two kinds of tin, one of them, nearly like lead, which runs better, the other, brittle, which renders itself thicker. They cast in solid tin molds & thick or, to do it more neatly in copper molds engraved with a burin, or in stone or in earth. Latten shards, mixed in, only rendering the tin more breakable & harder & difficult to work with, they cast in very hot molds & almost red & very hot tin. They fumigate their tin molds with resin candles.

Brittle dou tin is found mixed into saulmons, easy for cutting, but difficult to put to work &melts if it is not mixed with the other soft one. Otherwise, it would become waste.