IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BATHS AND WASH; TUBS OR WASH VESSELS
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL. COME, we, FRANCIS
TONGUE. RUFFORD, of Prescott House, in the County of Worcester, Fire Brick..
Manufacturer, ISAAC MARSON; of Cradley, in the same County, Potter, and
JOHN FINCH; of Pickard Street, City Road, in the County of Middlesex,
Manufacturer, send. greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at. Westminster, the. Twenty-eighth day of
November, One thousand eight: hundred and forty-nine, in the thirteenth year.
of Her reign, did, for Herself,. Hér heirs and successors, give and grant.unto.
us, the said Francis Tongue Rufford, Isaac Marson, and John Finch, our
exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power,. sole privilege and'.
authority, that we, the said' Francis Tongue Rufford, Isaac: Marson, and John
Finch, our exors, admors, and assigns, and such'others as we;. the said-Francis
Tongue. Rufford, Isaac: Marson, and John Finch, our exors; admors, or assigns,.
should at any time agree with; and no others,, from time to time. and at all!
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and. vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, our Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BATHS
AND WASH; TUBS OR WASH VESSELS;" in. which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso that we, the said Francis Tongue: Rufford, Isaac Marson, and John.
Finch, or one of us, should cause a particular description of the nature of our
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an in-
strument in writing under our hands. and seals, or under the hand and seal of
one of us;, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery: within

page_text: six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Francis Tongue Rufford, Isaac Marson, and John Finch, do hereby declare
that the nature of our said Invention, and the manner in which the same is
to be performed, are fully described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
Our Invention consists,
First, of improvements in the manufacture of baths; and,
Secondly, our Invention consists of improvements in the manufacture of
wash tubs or wash vessels.
And in order that our Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, we will proceed to describe the means pursued
by us. Heretofore fixed baths suitable for adults, have for the most part
been made of marble (either in one piece or built up with slabs) or.
of metal, and in some cases baths have been built with cement, in
other cases baths having been first built up of bricks, they have been
lined with thin glazed tiles commonly called Dutch tiles. Now according
to the first part of our Invention one part of our improvements consists of
making such descriptions of baths of one piece of clay ware glazed on the
inside; and in performing this part of our Invention we prefer to employ fire
clay, the interior surface of each bath being coated with china clay and glazed
as hereafter explained. The fire clay used should be selected and as free from
iron and other coloring matter as possible, in order to prevent the same dis-
coloring the china clay. We cause the clay to be mixed with potsherds at
the rate of about five parts of clay and one part of potsherds, and mix and
grind them in the mill and let them pass from the stones to the tempering
tub, where they are mixed, watered, and tempered in the same manner as is
usual in preparing for making fire bricks, but we use two qualities of fineness,
the coarser being for theoutside and the finer inside. The tempering we per-
form on floors (preferring boarded ones) keeping the finer and coarser clay in
two distinct lumps, each being turned over and well trodden with the bare feet.
The clay is to be used as stiff as possible when shaping or building the same
up into forms suitable when finished for baths. In shaping the clay or building
it up into the proper forms be prefer to employ the same manipulation as that
resorted to when shaping or building large retorts or large pots and other
large vessels, which consists of using the clay in rolls and pressing one part
into the other in order to drive out all air. We commence with making the
bottom of a bath, which we do on a board of the shape desired, having raised

page_text: edges or walls on two sides, of a depth equal to the thickness of the intended
bottom. On this board or mould the workman ffrst works on small rolls of
the finer clay, to the depth of about half an inch, and then he completes the
thickness of the bottom of the intended bath by working on rolls of the coarser
clay, and then he strikes the surface level and dusts over coarse ground-pot-
sherds. The bottom thus formed is then turned over on to another board, and
the first board or mould is removed. The workman next places a hollow
plug (or form of the interior of the intended bath) which we make of
boards, and over the exterior we place calico or other fabric moistened with
water, the object of which is that the plug may readily be removed when
the sides and ends of the intended bath have been built up or formed, such
sides and ends being built up or formed by the working of rolls of clay, the
finer clay against the outer surface of the said covered mould or plug, and
the coarser clay against the finer clay; and in this manner the walls of.
clay constituting the sides and ends of the intended bath are formed or built
up on the bottom, and support is to be given by boards to the sides and
ends at the exterior surfaces of these walls to keep them in form. The plug.
or inner mould may now be lifted out, and it will come away readily by reason
of wet calico or fabric having been used, aided by the circumstance that the
upper dimensions of the plug are somewhat larger than the lower dimensions.
The bath thus far made is allowed to stand for about twenty-four hours to set
and stiffen; an interior surface of coarse potters' clay is next to be applied and
rubbed well in, the surface being left rough to receive the next coat, and such
coarse potters' clay we prepare as follows:-Any of the established "best ware"
bodies used by potters (not transferred bodies) are suitable, the whiter the.
better. These in shavings (having been worked before) are best, for though
not so pure in color, they work better than newly prepared bodies, and they.
are not so liable to crack, they also amalgamate better with fire clay than
when freshly compounded. Although we believe any of the vitrified bodies
usually employed by potters will answer the purpose, we prefer the following:-
Granen (China clay) 50 parts dry.
Of this frit take
50 parts.
Bone earth-
30 parts.
Curret
15 parts.
Raw borax
5 parts.
China clay
-
35 parts.
Blue clay
-
-
5 parts.
Flint
-
10. parts.

page_text: We find that potters' ware is much less porous than fine clay, and will not
readily amalgamate until its porosity is increased. To effect this we employ
potsherds of white, or blue and white pitchers, and such-like vessels (glazed
ones being the best), which being ground we sieve, so as to obtain a product
of the size of common cartridge powder, and the other, for the finer. surface,
is to be as impalpable as possible; we mix in one tub at the rate of 'ten parts
of potters' body and two parts of the coarser potsherds with water, to the con-
sistency of soft butter; and in another tube we mix ten parts of potters' body
to two parts of the finer potsherds with water in like manner. The workman
having, as before stated, applied a rough coating of potters' clay to the interior
surface of the intended bath, the same is allowed to stand for a few hours,
when he is, by the aid of knives and sponges, to smooth the surfaces, and
then he is to apply a surface of the finer preparation of potters' clay smooth
and evenly. The vessel being now made, it is next to be dressed.; and this is
done when the clay has become hard enough to stand without support. The
dressing (as is well understood in respect to other vessels), is done with
knives, trowels, and sponges; and when the dressing has been performed, the
walls of the intended bath are again to be supported to keep them in shape,
and the vessel is to be allowed to dry; and it is desirable to employ such a
degree of heat as will only slightly overpower the property of such clay to
absorb moisture, slow drying being desirable; and when the sides and ends
have become comparatively dry, the vessel is to be set up on end to allow the
bottom to become dry, giving support by boards whenever it is seen to require.
the same. It is better to move such vessels into the oven before they are
completely dry, as they are tougher in that state than when quite dry, keeping
the kiln simply warm till the vessels are absolutely dry, and the firing is to be
so conducted as to get the heat up very slowly. Ordinary kilns or ovens may
be employed; but we prefer to construct ovens on purpose for these vessels.
We adopt a large and close seggar, round which the fire is conducted by flues,
having an outside fire-hole at about every three feet on each side; and we
govern the heat required by adding or diminishing the number of fires lighted.
To the front end of this seggar we have folding iron doors, so that the work-
man (until the oven or kiln is too hot), can walk in and-examine the progress.
The kiln or oven has vent holes in the usual way at top to let out the steam
and vapours;
and we make the kiln wide enough for two rows, allowing room
for the workmen to get at each vessel. Before placing the vessels in the kiln,
we carefully stop every crack which is inside with a cement made of equal
portions of fine clay and sand, and wash the whole inside with lime and water,
or Garrett's patent cement, mixed with water; for both stopping and washing,

page_text: the latter we prefer. The outside of the kiln we stop with common mortar.
The vessels are set on end in the oven on about two inches of well-dried pot-
sherd. The workman is to be very careful to see that the drying process is
done by very gradually continuing to increase the heat for five or six days;
and when the oven is too hot to enter, and no steam escapes, the "clamming"
is to be built up and stopped closely, leaving a moveable brick for a trial hole.
The heat is then to be got up gradually for about twelve to twenty hours,
until the trial pieces, which are from time to time drawn from the trial holes,
show the body to be well burned. The kiln is then to be kept at a white heat
for about twelve, hours, when every fire-hole is to be raked up with ashes, and
the kiln is to be suffered, with its contents, to cool, which will require five or
six days. The vessels are now in what is called the biscuit state, and prepared
to receive glaze. We have found that several pottery glazes will answer a
good purpose; some, however, being more likely to "craze" than others, and
some which stand well in pottery clay alone will not bear the heat which such
large vessels as those above explained require. The following is the one we
employ, but the same may be varied:

page_text: smooth and even. The ware is then again to be fired, which we do in the
same kiln or oven, well stopped and washed, as before explained; and the
heat being raised slowly, until the same begins to get to a dark red, and so
increasing the heat until the glazed trial pieces (which are examined from
time to time during burning), are well and properly glazed, at which time the
fires are to be raked up with ashes, so as to exclude air from the fire-holes,
and allowed to cool, and, when cold, the baths will be finished. We find that
it requires about sixty hours to get up the heat, and about six or eight days to
cool. Should it be desired to have the glazed surfaces marbled or ornamented,
that process will be performed on the biscuit before glazing. The requisite
holes in these baths for admitting and running off water are made by means of
a mallet and chisel, the glaze being first marked by a diamond, the workınan
cutting carefully with the chisel. The outside dimensions of baths which we
have thus made are at bottom four feet four inches long, two feet one inch
wide at one end, and one foot nine inches wide at the other end. At the
upper surface they are five feet four inches long, two feet six inches wide at
one end, and twenty-four inches wide at the other end, and twenty-four inches
<leep, the larger end of a bath being inclined, the smaller end being upright,
or nearly so; and we make the bottom to incline about half an inch in its
length. The thickness of all parts is about two and a quarter inches.
Another improvement in the making of fixed baths, whether such as above
described or large plunge baths, consists in the employment of bricks with
those surfaces (which in building of a bath, comes to the interior) prepared
with potters' or China clay, and glazed. For this purpose, if ordinary sized
bricks are used, we prepare and glaze one surface of each brick, in like manner
to what we have described in respect to clay baths, above described, and we
prefer fire bricks for such purpose. We prepare and glaze some bricks on one
of their sides, and other bricks on one of their ends, so that in building a bath
therewith, they may bond as in ordinary brickwork; or in place of ordinary
sized bricks larger bricks or blocks may be used, or slabs may be made, and
their surfaces (which come to the interior of the bath) prepared and glazed, as
before explained; but in applying China clay on such slabs, such a thickness
thereof is to be used, that if any winding should be produced in the surfaces
(which are to come against each other in forming joints) the same may
allow of grinding again to get true surfaces before glazing. In this manner
large slabs may be made, even large enough for the bottoms, sides, and ends of
baths, in like manner to the slabs of marble now used; great care, however,
in such cases being required in drying and firing such slabs to keep them
from winding. When comparatively small slabs are made in this manner, and

page_text: several are required for forming a bath, then we make them with projections
at the back suitable for bonding in with brickwork, by this means very
excellent baths may be made. We would remark in respect to this part of our
Invention, that we are aware that baths have been before made by building
the same in brickwork, and then lining such baths with Dutch tiles. We do
not therefore claim such mode of constructing baths, this part of our Invention
being for building baths with bricks, blocks, or slabs, with prepared and
glazed surfaces, as herein-before explained in contradistinction for simply lining
brick baths with thin glazed tiles.
The second part of our Invention consists of making wash tubs or wash
vessels suitable to be fixed at public wash-houses; and for this purpose we,
when using fire clay, proceed in like manner to what we have above described
for baths when making them of clay in one piece. Wash tubs and wash
vessels are, however, much smaller and lighter vessels, and they in fact differ
in the shape and dimensions of all the parts. The ordinary wash tubs or wash
vessels made us are of the following outside dimensions: the bottom at the
front and back being twenty-two inches, and at the sides eighteen inches, the
upper edge being at front and back twenty-two inches, and at the sides twenty-
four inches, the front being somewhat inclined, the thickness of material in all
parts being about an inch and a quarter, and they are fourteen inches deep.
In the above description of our Invention, we have given the fullest
particulars, not only of the manner of making pursued by us, but also of the
exact materials we use and the dimensions of the articles made. We do not,
however, confine ourselves to these details, as the same may be varied in
carrying out either part of our Invention.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, we would have it understood that we do
not claim any of the details, as herein described, nor do we confine ourselves.
thereto, so long as the peculiar character of either part of our Invention be
retained; but what we claim is,―
First, the manufacture of clay baths in one piece; and we also claim the
making of baths by employing bricks, blocks, or slabs, with surfaces prepared
and glazed. And,
Secondly, we claim the manufacture of wash tubs or wash vessels, such as
herein described, of clay.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Tongue Rufford, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty.
FRAN. T. (L.s.) RUFFORD.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-fourth day of May, in
the year of our Lord 1850, the aforesaid Francis Tongue Rufford came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped' according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord One