3. Bed one end of the apple in damp sand, precisely as shown in the illustration (Fig. 59). If you have no sand, use fine sawdust, or wet corn meal. Some objects require clay. Do not have the sand wet and water soaked, for it will not yield so readily to the palette knife.
4. Dot a line on the sand all round, to show how far out to run the plaster, and avoid making the mould too thick.
5. Take two-thirds of a teacup of water, and put in plaster Paris until it becomes about as thick as New Orleans molasses. Stir thoroughly with a spoon, and let it stand two or three minutes.
6. Dip the plaster out with a teaspoon, and cover the exposed part of the apple. It will run down all over the horizontal surface of the sand, but never mind that. Make it cover the apple everywhere to a depth of a quarter of an inch. In some places it will be thicker. After about three or four minutes the plaster will be as stiff as modeling clay. While it is in this state take your palette knife and neatly smooth and shape the outer surface. Finish smoothing with the finger, and let the plaster harden. This will take about seven minutes longer, or until the plaster has warmed and cooled again. The time varies according to the humidity of the atmosphere.
7. Take the apple from the sand, with the half mould on it, wash off the sand, and neatly trim the edge of the mould with a knife.
8. With a blunt-pointed knife make three countersunk holes in the edge of the mould.
9. With a brush, anoint the edge of the mould with thin clay, clay-water, or soft soap, or lard oil, or even lard.
[a]Fig. 60.]—Second Step in Making a Piece Mould.
10. Turn the mould up on edge, and bed half of the exposed portion of the apple in the sand, as seen in Fig. 60. Fill in this space with plaster, precisely the same as when the first piece was made, which produces the second piece of the mould.