IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING PLASTIC MATERIALS TO BE USED IN D" PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATIONUFACTURE OF FIRED WARES FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nicolas Francisque Ador, of 16; Castle
Street, Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING PLASTIC MATERIALS TO BE USED IN
D"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nicolas Francisque
Ador at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 26th January 1853.
I, NICOLAS FRANCISQUE ADOR, of 16, Castle Street, Holborn, in
the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING PLASTIC MATERIALS TO BE
USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FIRED WARES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES" to
be as follows:-
First, an indefinite quantity of silica. of potash or of soda, or
even of silica of lithine, is dissolved in boiling water in an iron

page_text: vessel, and continually stirred till it has reached 20 to 22 degrees
of the acid meter (pèse acide). After having left it still some
minutes, this liquid is then poured off into vessels of cast iron, of
lead, or of grit stone; care must be taken to hermetically close the
vessel till the moment it is to be used, for otherwise the carbonic
acid which the air contains would precipitate the greater quantity
of silica which is dissolving contained in the liquid, and would
render it unfit to be employed in the manufacture of the pecu-
liar kind of wares forming the subject of this Invention. The
liquid being poured off, hot water is added to the sediment re-
maining in the vessel. This is boiled again, taking care to stir it
till there remains no more matter undissolved. This liquid is also
poured off when cool, and is then transferred into vessels her-
metically sealed, so as to serve afterwards instead of water to make
other solutions at the degree already indicated. On the other hand,
it is necessary to have an indefinite quantity of amianthus, which
must be first crushed in a mill so as to reduce it not to a powder
but to small particles, as this substance in this state makes the
paste or slip more binding, which is of great importance to the
manufacture of the different articles for which it is intended.
It is necessary to have great vessels of oak coated with resin
virgin wax, in which there is permanently a bath of sulphuric,
nitric, muriatic, or hydro-chloric acid, from 10 to 12 degrees acid
meter (pèse acide). These vessels must have at the bottom part a
grit stone pipe serving to withdraw the liquids when necessary.
The whole being prepared as herein-before described, an indefinite
quantity of silicate liquid, either of soda, or of potash, or of lithine,
is taken and mixed with a certain quantity of the pulverised
amianthus, so as to form a paste or slip very liquid; at first this is
left to soak for 6 or 12 hours, taking care to stir it from time to
time, so that the particles of the amianthus may be thoroughly
imbued with the silicated liquid; before using the paste or slip,
the amianthus must be added;, so as to give it more consistency.
I proceed thus-Having a mould, either of wood, pasteboard, or any

page_text: suitable material, of the shape of the vessels or of the apparatus to be
formed, all the parts of this mould with which the slip comes in contact
are to be covered with strong paper not sized, so that the paste or slip
may not adhere. Afterwards a coat of the amianthus, diluted in the
liquid of the alkaline silicate, so as to keep the paper on the mould, and
to form the necessary roughness for modelling the vases, apparatus,
&c. of the desired thickness. The first coating being perfectly dry,
the slip is thickened with a fresh quantity of amianthus as long as it
remains flaccid, and it is applied by means of a trowel, an iron
blade, or any other suitable tool, on all the parts of the apparatus,
of an equal thickness, as would be done with mortar, so as to render
it perfectly smooth. These vessels or apparatus are then left to dry
for 12 hours, that is to say, till they have sufficient consistency to
keep firm and be detached from the moulds; they are then placed
in an oven heated, the first day at 20 degrees Reaumur, the second
at 25, and the third at 30. At the end of this time the vessels are
sufficiently dry, and are then placed in a draught or current of air
during 5 or 6 hours, or more if thought necessary, after which they
are plunged into the vessels containing one of the mineral acids afore-
said, and at the aforesaid degree, so as to neutralise completely the
alkali principle, and to leave the silica and the amianthus forming one
firm body in a free state. The neutralization is complete when there
'is nolonger an effervescence or evolving of the carbonic acid gas. The
acid water contained in the vessels is then withdrawn by means of the
grit stone pipe, and is placed in another vessel, so as to serve for a
similar operation. In the vessel containing the articles, and from
which the acid water has just been poured off, pure water is poured in,
and left to wash the wares for about half an hour, after which the water
is poured off. The manufactured articles are then taken out, and left
to drain and dry during some hours in a current of air; they are
afterwards placed in an oven heated to 40 to 45 degrees, and left
till they be entirely free from dampness; they are then baked in the
ordinary way. The manufactured articles then not only become of
great hardness, but will not break when submitted to the most

page_text: powerful heat or the most sudden cold, and are not affected by any
chynical agents. For building purposes it is not necessary to bake
the materials, but merely to dry them by currents of air and by a
portable stone, which means of drying are to be used when the
interior walls of the building are coated with the aforesaid sub-
stance, and well dried in each of the rooms where these coatings are
made. In a cast iron vessel some pounds of sulphur must be burnt,
the sulphurous gas then penetrates the particles of the coating, com-
binės with the alkaline principle, which it neutralizes and changes
into the state of a sulphite, which issues from the pores of the fire-
proof coating, having the appearance of mouldiness, which is easily
removed by a brush or with water.
There is another process, less complicated, and by which the same
result is obtained. First, a rather thick paste must be made with
liquid silicate of soda, and divided into pieces of about the size of
an ordinary brick, so as it may dry sooner. These are then plunged
during about twenty-four hours into a bath of muriatic acid from
10 to 12 degrees, as being the cheapest; they are then taken out, and
left to dry some time, and then baked to a red heat, either in a
reverberatory furnace or lime kiln, after which this substance is
easily pulverized into fine powder. It must be then mixed with
about a third of its volume of pulverized amianthus, and about a
fifth of ordinary kaolin in a very dry powder; all the substances
being well mixed, are simply diluted in water, and made into a
paste of the thickness thought necessary to make the vessels and
other articles to be manufactured. They are to be moulded in the
ordinary way. After they have been left to dry three or four days
in the open air, or two days at most exposed to heat of about 30
degrees, they are then placed in a suitable furnace, heated with
wood, coal, or coke, and left there till they become of a red heat;
they are then withdrawn from the furnace, and when cool are fit
for use..

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said Nicolas Francisque Ador in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 26th July 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
NICOLAS FRANCISQUE ADOR, of 16, Castle Street, Holborn, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three,
in the sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Nicolas Francisque
Ador, Her special licence that I, the said Nicolas Francisque
Ador, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Nicolas Francisque Ador, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PREPARING PLASTIC MATERIALS TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
FIRED WARES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Nicolas Francisque Ador, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in
the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Nicolas Francisque Ador, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement (that is to say):

page_text: An indefinite quantity of silica of potash or soda, or even of
silica of lithine, is dissolved in boiling water in an iron vessel, and
continually stirred till it has reached 20 to 22 degrees of the
acetometer. After being left still some minutes, this liquid is
poured off in vessels of cast iron, lead, or gritstone. Care must be
taken to hermetically close the vessel till the moment it is to be
used, for otherwise the carbonic acid which the air contains would
precipitate the greater quantity of silica which is dissolving in the
liquid, and would render it unfit to be employed in the manufacture
of the peculiar kind of wares forming the subject of this Invention.
The liquid being poured off, hot water is added to the sediment
Femaining in the vessel; this is boiled again, taking care to stir it
till there remains no more matter undissolved. This liquid is also
poured off when cool, and is then transferred into vessels her-
metically sealed, so as to serve afterwards instead of water to make
other solutions at the degree already indicated. On the other hand,
it is necessary to have an indefinite quantity of amianthus, which
must be first crushed in a mill, so as to reduce it not to a powder
but to small particles, as this substance in this state makes the
paste or slip more binding, which is of great importance in the
manufacture of the different articles for which it is intended. It is
necessary to have great vessels of oak coated with rosin and virgin
wax, in which there is permanently a bath of sulphuric, nitric,
muriatic, or hydro-chloric acid, from ten to twelve degrees of the
acetometer. These vessels must have at the bottom part a grit
stone pipe, serving to withdraw the liquids when necessary. The
whole being prepared as herein-before described, an indefinite
quantity of silicate liquid, either of soda, or potash, or lithine, is
taken and mixed with a certain quantity of the pulverized ami-
anthius, so as to form a paste or slip very liquid. At first this is
left to soak for six or twelve hours, taking care to stir it from time
to time, so that the particles of the amianthus may be imbued
thoroughly with the silicated liquid. Before using the paste or

page_text: slip,. amianthus must be added so as to give it more consistency. 1
proceed thus-Having a mould, either of wood, pasteboard, or any
other suitable material, of the shape of the vessels or the apparatus
to be formed, all the parts of this mould with which the slip comes
in contact are to be covered with strong paper not sized, so that
the paste or slip may not adhere. Afterwards a coat of the ami-
anthus, diluted in the liquid of the alkaline silicate, so as to keep
the paper on the mould, and to form the necessary roughness
for modelling the vases, apparatus, &c., of the desired thickness.
This first coating being perfectly dry, the slip is thickened with a
fresh quantity of amianthus as long as it remains flaccid, and it is
applied by means of a trowel, an iron blade, or any other suitable
tool; on all the parts of the apparatus, of an equal thickness, as
would be done with mortar, so as to render it perfectly smooth.
These vessels or apparati are then left to dry for twelve hours,
that is to say, till they have sufficient consistency to keep firm and
be detached from the moulds; they are then placed in an oven,
heated the first day to twenty degrees Reaumur, the second at
twenty-five, and the third at thirty. At the end of this time the
vessels are sufficiently dry, and are then placed in a draught or
current of air during five or six hours, or more if necessary, after
which they are plunged into the vessels containing one of the
mineral acids aforesaid, and at the aforesaid degree, so as to neu-
tralize completely the alkali principles, and to leave the silica and
the amianthus forming one firm body in a free state. The
neutralization is complete when there is no longer an effer-
vescence or evolving of the carbonic acid gas. The acid water
contained in the vessels is then withdrawn by means of the grit
stone pipe, and is placed in another vessel, so as to serve for a
similar operation. In the vessel containing the articles, and from
which the acid water has just been poured off, pure water is poured
in, and left to wash the wares for about half an hour, after which
the water poured off. The manufactured articles are then taken
out, and left to drain, and dry during some hours in a current of

page_text: air. They are placed afterwards in an oven, heated to forty or
forty-five degrees, and left till they be entirely free from dampness;
they are then baked in the ordinary way, and not only become of
great hardness, but will not break when submitted to the most
powerful heat, or the most sudden cold, and are not affected by any
chymical agents. For building purposes it is not necessary to bake
the materials, but merely to dry them by currents of air, and by a
portable stove, which means of drying are to be used when the
interior walls of the building are coated with the aforesaid sub-
stance, and well dried in each of the rooms where these coatings
are made. In a cast iron vessel some pounds of sulphur must be
burnt, the sulphurous gas then penetrates the particles of the
coating, combines with the alkaline principles, which it neutralizes
and changes into the state of a sulphite, which issues from the
pores of the fireproof coating, having the appearance of mould-
iness, which is easily removed by a brush or with water. There is.
another process, less complicated, and by which the same result is
obtained. First, a rather thick paste must be made with liquid
silicate of soda, and divided into pieces of about the size of an
ordinary brick, so as it may dry sooner. These are then plunged
during about twenty-four hours into a bath of muriatic acid from
ten to twelve degrees, as being the cheapest; they are then taken
out, and left to dry some time, and then baked to a red heat, either
in a reverberatory furnace or lime kiln, after which this substance:
is easily pulverized into fine powder. It must be then mixed with
about a third of its volume of pulverized amianthus, and about a.
fifth of ordinary kaolin in a very dry powder; all the substances
being well mixed are simply diluted in water, and made into a
paste of the thickness thought necessary to make the vessels and
other articles. They are to be moulded in the ordinary way.
After they have been left to dry three or four days in the open air,
or two days at most exposed to heat of about thirty degrees,
they are then placed in a suitable furnace, heated with wood,
coal, or coke, and left there till they become of a red heat; they

page_text: are then withdrawn from the furnace, and when cool are fit
for use.
In witness whereof, I, the said Nicholas Francisque Ador, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of
July, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-three.
F. ADOR. (L.S.)