A Process for Producing Artificial Polished or Ground Stone.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 21st May, 189
Complete Specification Left. 12th Feb. 1890-Accepted. 17th May. 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A Process for Producing Artificial Polished or Ground Stone.
I, MAX MAY, of Mindelheim, in the Empire of Germany, formerly Captain in the
Bavarian Army, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is a process for manufacturing imitations of various
kinds of ground or polished stone as is employed for slabs mouldings or other useful
or ornamental purposes.
Said process essentially consists in soaking the shavings of natural or coloured
wood for some time in warm glue-water, mixing them in a hot state with a corre-
sponding quantity of glue, lac or other suitable binding material and some spirit and
stamping the mixture into heated moulds. The mass thus obtained is subsequently
shaped under high pressure into slabs, mouldings, etc., which are left to dry, then
planed or ground and finally polished or varnished.
The selection of the wood, the shavings of which are employed in this process,
and the mixture, and disposition of the shavings within the mixture depend on the
appearance of the marble or stone intended to be imitated.
These imitations can be made to greatly resemble the natural material; they are
sufficiently hard and their cost is very low in comparison to that of the latter.
Dad thin
SM 1000
HUELSER & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A Process for Producing Artificial Polished or Ground Stone.
I, MAX MAY of Mindelheim in the Empire of Germany, formerly Captain in the
Bavarian Army, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
This invention relates to an improved process for producing imitations of ground or
polished stone of various kinds, for instance marble, granite, syenite, malachite, in a
simple way and at a cost considerably below that of the natural stones they are
intended to represent and replace.
The improved process essentially consists in mixing about 20 to 30 units of weight.
of shavings from, or pieces or chips of, natural wood of any kind, or coloured wood, or
both at the same time or other cellular material with about 100 to 150 units of
weight of a suitable binding substance, pressing the mixture into moulds and sub-
sequently shaping it by means of high hydraulic pressure into slabs, mouldings or
other pieces or ornaments which, after being sufficiently dried, are planed or ground off
to produce a smooth surface, and finally varnished or polished.
The binding means above referred to must be of such a nature as to render the
product somewhat elastic, but sufficiently hard and capable of resisting pressure and
climatic influences and also to give its surface a certain degree of transparency. Such
a binding agent is preferably produced as follows:-
100 to 150 units of newly precipitated caseine, which may, for particular purposes,
be freed by pressure from the mechanically inherent water, are thoroughly incor-
porated with 10 to 20 units of glycerine, 10 to 20 units of dry or dissolved alkaline
soluble glass, 50 to 60 units of a mixture of hydrate of lime and magnesia (proportion
100 to 10), and 5 to 10 units of a well-drying oil, for instance linseed oil. Said
mixture of hydrate of lime and magnesia may also be replaced by a mixture of

page_text: baryta and magnesia or strontia and magnesia, or, for particular purposes, also by a
mixture of hydrate of lime with hydrate of baryta, or hydrate of lime may be used
without any admixture.
A mixture of caseine and lime, such as has already been technically employed for
cementing would not be adapted to serve as the binding agent required, as it lacks
resistant capacity to pressure or shocks, sufficient plasticity and requisite transparency
of surface. To admit of a satisfactory working of the material obtained by mixing
wood shavings or offal with the binding substance, the latter must have good plastic
properties which are produced, together with the necessary degree of elasticity and
transparency, by the addition of drying oil and glycerine, while the admixture
of soluble glass and magnesia is conducive to increasing the hardness of the
imitation stone.
The binding substance obtained in the above manner is thick and doughy; it is
highly coalescent with the wood shavings and solidifies soon so as to retain the shape
once received by pressure, while the finished objects assume a stony hardness or con-
sistency when placed for a few days into a room having a temperature of about
20 to 30 degrees Centigrade.
The finished material in thin layers is sufficiently transpa rent, and it can be with
facility planed sawed ground or polished.
The wood shavings or pieces prior to being mixed together with the binding
substance, are preferably soaked in water containing glycerine in order to increase
their pliability.
To protect the surface of the object made by the improved process from humidity,
that is to say to obviate adhesion of water thereto, a coating consisting of abont two
thirds of linseed or other drying oil and one third of camphor oil (or the said
coating may consist of about one half paraffin or ceresine and one half of camphor
oil) or any other equivalent coating may be applied. An addition of resin powders
or resin soaps may suitably be made to the binding substance for the purpose of
supporting the resistant capacity to atmospheric influences, the binding substance
according to its application may also receive colouring admixture.
When colouring or dying the wood shavings it is of course necessary to take into
consideration the alkaline properties inherent to the binding agent, i.e. the change of
colours thereby produced.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1.) A process for producing artificial stone consisting in soaking shavings or pieces
of natural or coloured wood, or of both jointly, or of other cellular material in a
suitable liquid, mixing them with a binding substance and pressing the mixture into
moulds, the dried blocks or objects being subsequently, if required, ground, polished,
cut or varnished, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2.) In the process referred to in claim 1 for producing artificial stone, the com-
bination, with wood-shavings or -pieces or other ligneous or cellular material, of a
binding substance consisting of an intimate mixture of newly precipitated caseine,
glycerine, dry or dissolved alkaline soluble glass, hydrate of lime mixed with magnesia
or as a substitute for the latter two substances, other suitable alkaline earths-and
drying oil, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 12th day of February 1890.