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Old 25th March 2012, 10:15 PM   #8
A. G. Maisey
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Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 6,697
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Damar selo, hard bees wax, terracotta dust.

Proportions :- 3 : 2 : 1

Must be done outside preferably with a light breeze to carry away the fumes.

The fumes can ignite.

Preparation is dangerous and I do not recommend the preparation and use of this material to anybody who has not received training from an experienced person.

When the mixture has been prepared and allowed to cool it will form a hard, rock-like deposit in the bottom of the saucepan. This can be freed from the saucepan by hitting the pan hard against the earth. You then break up the "rock" into smaller pieces and re-heat. When it is soft you pick up some from the pan with a stick, and cool it to the point where it is plastic. It will still be hot and if you do not enjoy a little bit of pain you should not have started the exercise in the first place, because you need to take the hot material between your fingers and roll it to a size that will fit the hole for the tang. You insert the rolled material, then you heat the tang and push it home while the material is still just a little bit soft. You need to work very fast from the point where you take the hot material from the pan.

You can clean up excess with mineral turps and a stiff toothbrush.

WARNING:- when this stuff is hot it will stick to your skin and burn straight through the skin into your flesh. It hurts. Believe me.

WARNING:- do the preparation outside well away from any buildings. If the fumes ignite, just leave it and run.

I do not know where to buy damar selo outside of Jawa.

The safe, sensible, easy solution for this century is to use tinted araldite.
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