Improvements in Moulds for Forming Relief Ornamentation on Walls, Ceilings, and the like.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 10th July, 1897-Accepted, 21st Aug.,
1897
[Communicated from abroad by WILLIAM HENRY HENAY, of 12 Sumner Street,
Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States of America,
Gentleman.]
Improvements in Moulds for Forming Relief Ornamentation on Walls,
Ceilings, and the like.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 a mold adapted to be used for forming relief ornamen-
tation on walls, ceilings, and the like, and comprising a flexible body or plate
adapted to be placed upon a surface to be ornamented, and having openings through
which plastic material may be forced, to form relief ornaments, the form of which
is determined by the form of the openings, said openings being obstructed only by
interwoven strauds, which tie together the margins of the openings. The inven-
tion has for its object to provide an improved mold-plate adapted to be more
readily and conveniently made than those heretofore used, and of greater strength,
durability, and flexibility. The invention also has for its object to provide an
improved method of making a mold of the character specified. To these ends,
the invention consists in the improvements which I will now proceed to describe.
Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,--
Figures 1 and 2 represent sectional views, illustrating the preferred method of
making my improved mold.
Figure 3 represents a front view of a mold embodying my invention.
Figure 4 represents a section on line 4-4 of Figure 3.
In producing a mold of the character to which my invention relates, I prefer to
proceed as follows:-
A sheets of wet paper, rather larger than the design to be executed, is smoothed
out on a board t (see Figure 1), and whlie still wet, a sheet of wire-netting n
corresponding in size is drawn tightly over it, the netting being preferably
fastened at its edges to the board t. A suitable filling f, preferably composed of
equal parts of sifted whiting and ground pumice mixed to proper consistency
with clear water; is then spread on the netting, and pressed firmly through the
interstices of the mesh, onto the surface of the wet sheets, which imparts a smooth
under surface to the filling. The upper surface of the filling is then smoothed off,
and the whole is then lifted from the wet sheets, from which the plastic and wet
filling readily draws away. The filling is now equally smooth on both sides, the
wire netting being embedded in the center of the filling. When the filling is dry,
it is ready for further treatment, as follows:-
The intended design is traced or marked on the dry surface of the
filling, in any suitable way, and then all parts of the filling which are to be
permanently united to the wire sheet n are saturated with a liquid binder, which

page_text: may be any suitable adhesive liquid, a solution of gum or silicate being preferred.
The binder may be applied by a brush, or in any other suitable way, and is pre-
ferably colored so that it contrasts strongly with the natural light color of the
filling. The portions of the filling thus treated become tough, and adhere firmly
to the netting, the other portions which are to be removed, remaining in a brittle
condition, so that they may be readily disintegrated and removed from the sheet.
After allowing sufficient time, for the binder to dry, all the brittle portions, or
those not touched by the binder, can be readily forced out from the meshes of the
sheet, by a stiff brush or otherwise, leaving an opening or openings through the
filling, obstructed only by the meshes of the sheet, the form of said openings deter-
mining the design made by the use of the mold. All the parts of the filling that
were saturated with the binder remain intact, the gum having permeated the
porous ground and combined with the whiting and pumice, forming an adhesive,
durable, and comparatively flexible cement, lying on both sides of and within the
meshes of the sheet. Subsequent treatment of the still porous ground, with
different combinations of oil, wax, silicate, or shellac, will improve the durability
and flexibility of the mold-plate thus formed, and render it more or less elastic,
in accordance with the nature or requirements of the work to be done.
In Figures 1 and 2, f f f f¹ represent the portions of the filling that have been
hardened and rendered permanent by the binder, the portions f including the
main body of the filling surrounding the openings, while the portions f¹ are strips
or small figures within said openings. It will be seen that the portions f¹ can be
made very elaborate and fanciful, and may include such lines or markings as the
designer may consider desirable to give character and expression to the design.
Every touch of the brush used to apply the binder, on the porous filling, fixes and
makes permanent the part touched; hence an intricate and delicate design can be
wrought out with exactness and rapidity.
The improved mold-plate is alike on both sides, each of which is smooth; hence
either side can be used with equal effect, the plate lying close to the surface to
be decorated, and producing clean, sharp work. The incorporation of the filling
into the meshes of the wire-cloth sheet greatly strengthens the filling.
In operating with this improved mold, its back side is placed against the surface
to be decorated, and a suitable plastic composition is forced through the exposed
meshes of the wire-cloth, a suitable instrument for this purpose being a broad-
bladed knife, which is manipulated to force the composition to place and scrape
off the surplus material, leaving the outer surface of the composition about flush
with the netting. The strands of the netting therefore indent or emboss the oute:
surface of the ornament, and give the same an imitation of the texture of the wire-
cloth, resembling mosaic-work. The surface thus produced has a pleasing effect,
and is of great value from a decorative standpoint.
I do not limit myself to the use of the particular cementitious composition
herein described, in making the improved mold, and may use any material,
mixture, composition, adapted to be pressed into the meshes of a wire-cloth
sheet, forming a filling which when dry is sufficiently porous to absorb a binding
liquid, whereby the particles comprising the filling are bonded or united.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is:―
1. As an article of manufacture, a flexible mold of the character specified, com-
prising a flexible reticulated sheet, and a flexible filling in the meshes of portions
of the sheet and embedding or covering said portions, forming practically smooth
surfaces at both sides of the mold, said filling being arranged to expose portions of
the sheet and permit the passage of plastic material therethrough.
2. As an article of manufacture, a flexible mold of the character specified, com-
prising a flexible reticulated sheet, and a flexible cementitious filling bonded in
portions of the meshes of the sheet so as to form a pattern.

page_text: 3. The improved method of making flexible molds herein before described, the
same consisting in filling the meshes of a reticulated sheet with a plastic material
or composition of the character specified, applying a liquid binder to portions of
said filling to toughen said portions and permanently unite them to the rorre-
sponding portions of the sheet and to render said portions of the filling flexible, and
then removing the remaining portions of the filling from the sheet, thereby forming
reticulated openings.
1007
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.