121v - - - - - Casting in silver
You need to place the animals as said, and make up the same sand out of four parts plaster, two parts refiredbrick, and one part annealed stone alum. Mix it well, and once it is ready and you wish to mold, take three parts of the aforementioned sand in the earthenware dish from which the peasants eat their soup. Add pure annealed stone alum that has been pulverized in the mortar, as much as you can grab with your four fingers and thumb, or a small double handful. Then, mix well and mix in a little of sal ammoniac and the remainder with common water+
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Which needs to be placed in the dish rather than in the sand, which is put in the water, and not the water in the sand And stir it with your spatula so that it all becomes like a thick sauce or clear mustard. And having rubbed spirits on the animal with the brush, cast and blow, and beat the table to shake the mold and do as with the others. Do not forget to put in crocum, because it prevents molds from cracking, and it is appropriate for all metals.
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Alloyed silver is better for casting than fine silver, provided it is soft.
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The stone alum needs be well pulverized and well mixed.
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Sal ammoniac gets along well with gold and silver.
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Brass is the enemy of gold and works well withsilver.
Silver used to cast
It is not pure but alloyed silver, and it does not become perfectly white on the fire because they goldsmiths whiten it after the melting to clean up the welding marks that occur when an animal needs to be attached to another or when it needs repairing. The process is similar with teston silver and all alloyed silver as long as it is soft and good.
Before starting to cast in silver, in order to coat all round and strengthen your molds, you should use earth that can withstand fire, such as this sandy earth mixed with cloth waste which founders use to cast their canons, or any good lute that can withstand fire. They need to all be red and to be tied with iron wire.
Rather than anneal the molds, have the mixture necessary so that the silver runs.
If goldsmiths knew the material to make silver run in their work, they would buy it in quantity. Some buy it five sols for a denier.
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I have used silver from the capital.
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Before luting and strengthening the molds for gold and silver with the said earth, the cast and the vents must be made and the molds must have been annealed and made quite red to burn the animals, flowers and herbs that are inside. The ashes in the molds should be cleaned thoroughly. Once the molds are quite clean and ready, lute them and bind them with iron wire. Anneal them straight away until they are quite red.