Maybe this will help you !???
I just finished a week-long workshop with 3 African silversmiths
(Mali, Burkina Fasso, Niger, one of them being a Tuareg). It was a
wonderful experience working with so little equipment and obtaining
such a perfect technique.
We used only a small charcoal fire and a pair of bellows made of
goatskin (legs still attached). No problem to melt silver (no
discussions on propane versus butane or acytelene ...!) and pour
ingots.
They used tamarind (a pod like plant) + salt as a pickle
3.(the most interesting !!!) As casting investment we used ...
donkey donk: make your model out of wax, put the donkey dunk
carefully, little by little around the wax, let it dry near the
charcoal fire for a day, melt the wax and pour it out (and re-use it
of course), put the mold in the fire , melt the silver, pour it in
the mold and there you are!
- That donkey dunk mixed with clay was also used to make small
crucibles.
Of course time was not of any importance but what an enriching
experience!
Greetings to all,
Linda (Belgium)
