Making and Knowing
A minimal edition of BnF Ms Fr 640

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not like other things. And for this one, you can cast two or three times until your mold is full. Now, concerning this mold of pulverized white plaster & reheated in the manner of the sand from the preceding recipes, you should have made it long ago because it is used many times. But, before using it, soak it for a good hour in cold water, & at a minimum, at least as long in hot water that at first is so hot that you can’t hold your finger in it. And note that it absorbs no more, but that it appears very wet overall without water seeping into it. In removing it closed from the hot water, cast your wax in such a state of heat as has been described. And neither the first nor the second casting will readily come out well, hardly, until the mold is soaked. Let it cool down before opening it so that the cast thing not break. You will know that the casting is good when the wax coming back out of the mold is thin and even. Remember to make several castings along the whole length of the mold so that in this way the wax runs better.

Make the first

Figure Figure casting twice as large as other molds. And if, in the first casting, your work fills with bubbles and in so doing does not come out neatly, it’s all the same, because you have to face the fact that the three or four first do not readily come out well. Firstly, you will know whether there are a few barbs that keep it from stripping well. And you will remove them if, on their own, they do not remove themselves in the two or three first castings. And the more that you cast, the more you will do it neatly. And your mold will serve you more than one hundred times if it Is well governed. But it is good to soak it one night or one day before casting so that it be well soaked. The same must be done for fruits made from sugar. This wax is very soft & friendly & pliant, like copper. And if it is hard this is because of sulfur, which makes it melt more easily than than other wax, so much that you can see evidence on a hot slate. And the sulfur that you put inside will be found the second time that you melt it, as cracks on the bottom. Having in this way passed through wax, it will not catch fire at all when put to a candle. And in this case, I believe that it will cast quite the medal . One uses the same wax in place of varnish to .

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When your animal is cast, cut away the froth & superfluous things with a hot pen knife. And if you want, plait and wrap it around some stick or candle, put it in some hot water to soften and hold it in turning it around.

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Lower the protrusions of the castings so that they be even & that the wax has more silver so that it can run all in one go without turning through the windings of the snake.

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