GLOSSARY

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Latex - A natural rubber extracted from rubber trees and processed and vulcanized into a paintable liquid; used in mold making.

Lead - Heavy soft malleable ductile metal used in low temperature casting.

Leather Hard - The first stage in drying pottery or ceramics where the outer skin becomes tough but not hard. At this stage, the piece is trimmed or footed before bisque firing.

Leather Tip- Handle of a wood carving tool made of leather to soften the impact of the blow of the carving mallet.

Lignum Vitae - Hardwood from Haiti used to make carving mallets of heavy weight and long durability. Dark outer and light inner characteristics. Availability is like “the fish catch of the day in the Sahara.”

Lime - Calcium oxide used with plaster in building materials for strength.

Limestone - Formed by accumulation of organic remains - generally shells and coral. A coarse stone used for carving.

Lithium - The lightest metal known of the alkali group. Sometimes used for casting but its cost is limiting.

Long Bent Tools - Wood carving tools with a long sweeping curved shape that cuts deeply into wood, available in many shapes and sweeps.

Loop Tools - For work in ceramics, tools with heavy wire ends used to cut or trim leather- hard pottery. Available in triangular, square, or snub nose shapes according to function.

Lost Wax - Process in casting where the model is converted into wax and then melted from the mold in which bronze or other casting material will be cast.

Luster - Glow of reflected light or sheen from a type of glaze used in ceramics or pottery decoration.

Luting - Packing a joint or coating a porous surface to make it impervious to liquid.