Making and Knowing
A minimal edition of BnF Ms Fr 640 in English Translation

- - - - - folio image: 115r - - - - -

at left top margin of folio 115r

First cast the tail or the back of your animal, make a cut from the head to the middle to the tail where you cast, and which is the end of the mandore. After casting do not forget to make holes, and to notch your casted metal. That way metal will run better than if do not notch it. Indeed metal get damaged into notches, do not run too much and does not swell as much as if you do not make any notch. Put small clamps made of wire to the joints separating both molds it will reinforce the joints of your mold. Clamps prevent molds from distorting and from getting damaged while heating.

Note about everything above said

If your snake hasn’t eaten for a long time, when you want to kill it into urine and vinegar, it would fill with water and would swell, and then it would dry when you fix it on clay.

Once casted, and removed out of the mold, you could see a small empty line between the animal and the mold where sand will come in when you make the second cast. Try to avoid that if you can, but do not give up your second casting because not much sand comes in this empty space and it will be easy to clear it with the help of a small needle, also this sand does not stick to the first cast.

Casts which must be reheated, like casts for gold or silver, or other matters which must be burnt inside the mold, need more stone alum than casts which are stripped of the mold easily, like lead and tin. However do not add too much stone alum.