From: owner-scribes@castle.org (scribes digest) To: scribes-digest@castle.org Subject: scribes digest V5 #59 Reply-To: Sender: owner-scribes@castle.org Errors-To: owner-scribes@castle.org Precedence: bulk scribes digest Tuesday, March 6 2001 Volume 05 : Number 059 ======================================================================== To unsubscribe from this list, send email to with unsubscribe scribes-digets in the body of the message. Leave the subject line blank. Do not include any additional text. Re: [scribes]: wax seal question ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2001 08:55:17 +0000 From: "Jackie E. Burns" Subject: Re: [scribes]: wax seal question For many years I had worked as a senior legal secretary in one of the top law firms in London, UK. Occasionally we would have to produce a document in the traditional manner: sewn together with green ribbon and sealed with wax. The wax that we used came in rods. To melt it I would light a candle, position the end of the rod of sealing wax above the area where I wanted the seal to be and place the flame of the candle underneath the rod. The flame melts the sealing wax which would then drip onto the paper (plus any dripping wax from the candle would also drip onto the same spot). Speed is of the essence because once you got the approx. amount of sealing wax that you felt you needed, you then had to pick up the seal and squidge it firmly onto the wax before the wax started to harden - which it did rapidly. Distance between the flame and the rod was also critical because too close, and the melting red wax could get covered in the black smoke of the candle. Too far away and the red wax would take to long to melt and the puddle of wax on the paper would end up hard and unusable. With a little bit of practice, it didn't take long to get the hang of it. Jackie >I'd recommend melting the wax in a small ladle over a clean heat source if >you can (natural gas stove or propane heater, not a candle). We have a >dedicated wax ladle we use for our sealing wax - otherwise be prepared to >go through a lot of kitchen utensils because the wax is quite sticky and >won't come off the ladle. If you use the same one over and over again, >that's not a problem. Cool the seal down before using it, and between uses >if you're doing multiple seals at a time. When I used to help out Eowyn >and Aliskye with seals, we would set the seal down in a bowl of ice between >uses. You can use a little veggie oil on the seal if it has a tendency to >stick to the wax (depends on how the design is cut - sharp cuts may not >come out cleanly so oil might be good for those). It helps to have a cool >surface to lay the scroll down on like a marble pasty board - it acts as a >heat sink and cools the wax that much faster. Don't leave the seal on too >long or it's harder to remove. > >Tetchubah of Greenlake, Caid =================================================================== To unsubscribe from this list, send email to with a blank Subject: line and unsubscribe scribes in the body of the message. Do not include any additional text in the body. ------------------------------ End of scribes digest V5 #59 ****************************