AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CAST STEEL."
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Mushet, of Coleford, in the County of
Gloucester, Metallurgist, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CAST STEEL."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Mushet at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
March 1859.
I, ROBERT MUSDET, of Coleford, in the County of Gloucester, Metallurgist,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CAST STEEL," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in alloying cast steel with the metal titanium, by
which said alloying the quality of the cast steel is improved. I prefer to
carry my Invention into effect in the manner herein-after explained; but I do
not limit myself thereto, as the method of carrying my Invention into effect
may be varied without departing from the nature of my said Invention.
I introduce titanic acid or titanium ore mixed with carbonaceous matter
into a melting pot or crucible placed in a suitable furnace, the said pot or
crucible also containing the steel which it is intended to melt, and with which.
titanium is to be alloyed. I heat the said substances together until the steel.
is melted and the titanium is reduced and alloyed therewith; or I introduce
metallic titanium along with the steel into the melting pot or crucible placed
in à suitable furnace, and I therein heat the said. steel and titanium until they
are melted.
In carrying my Invention into effect, I use any of the ores of titanium,

page_text: such as rutile, brookite, schorlomite, anatasé, or ilmenite, or I use titanic acid
separated by any method or process from these orcs or any other ores of
titanium. Some ores of titanium contain a considerable mixture of other
substances in addition to titanic acid. Thus, an ore of titanium may contain
from twenty to thirty parts per centum of lime or silica, or it may contain
from twenty to eighty parts per centum of oxide of iron and other substances.
In making use of such ores of titanium as are poor in titanic acid, I treat
them in the manner that I treat the richer ores of titanium, being careful,
however, to add a larger proportion of the poor titanium ore than of the purer
and richer orcs of that metal to the steel with which titanium is to be alloyed.
I prepare the ores of titanium, or the titanic acid for my process by stamping,
crushing, or otherwise reducing them into the state of a very fine powder.
This powder I mix with carbonaceous matter in the proportion of one part by
weight of the pulverized titanium ore or titanic acid to from one to two parts
by weight of carbonaceous matter. The carbonaceous matter which I prefer
to use is common pitch or resin. This I melt in an iron pot or kettle, and to
every twenty pounds by weight of the pitch or resin I add when the said pitch
or resin is melted from ten pounds by weight to twenty pounds by weight of
the pulverized ore of titanium or titanic acid, and stir the mixture with a stick
or rod, so as to blend and thoroughly combine the ingredients; I then pour
out the mixture upon a cold pavement or flagstone, which may be moistened
to prevent the pitch from adhering to it. When cold, the mixture or compound
may be broken up into pieces for use; but I do not confine myself to these
proportions, though I find that these answer well in practice. To every forty
pounds by weight of steel I add a quantity of the compound of pitch or rosin
and titanium ore or titanic acid amounting to from two ounces by weight to
one pound by weight, according to the degree of "body" and hardness which
I desire that the cast steel shall possess, and I introduce the steel and tho
before-mentioned compound together into a melting crucible or pot placed in
a suitable melting furnace, and I heat the said steel and compound therein
until they are melted. I then pour the cast steel into suitable ingot moulds
in the usual manner. The greater the proportion of the mixture of titanium
are or titanic acid with carbonaceous matter which is added to the steel; the
harder will the cast steel be made; but in practice the proportions I have
herein-before given will yield most of the different qualities of cast steel
required in commerce; I do not however confine myself to these proportions.
The pots or crucibles which I prefer to use, and the furnaces in which they
are placed and heated, are such as are generally used by manufacturers of
Ac

page_text: The essence of my Invention consists in combining and alloying the metal
titanium with cast steel, whereby the quality of the cast steel is improved.
Metallic titainum is occasionally found in alloy with cast iron in various pro-
portions, or it may be alloyed with cast iron in various proportions, and I
sometimes employ this alloy for the purpose of producing the alloy of cast steel
with titanium. For this purpose 1 find it sufficient to add to every forty
pounds by weight of steel as much of the alloy of titanium and cast iron as
shall be found to contain from one-fourth part of an ounce, by weight to four
ounces by weight of metallic titanium; but I do not confine myself to these
proportions. I introduce the steel and the alloy of cast iron and titanium into
a pot or crucible placed in a furnace of the ordinary kind. used for, melting
steel, and I heat the steel and the said alloy of cast iron and titanium therein
until they are melted, and I afterwards pour the metal into ingot moulds in
the usual manner. The alloying of cast steel with titanium may either be
effected by the processes herein before described, or by any other convenient
and economical method or process, and I do not claim as of my said Invention
any particular method or process for forming the alloy; but what I do
claim is, simply the alloying-of cast steel with titanium, in order to improve
the quality of the steel, by whatever method or process the alloy may be pro-
duced or obtained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Mushet in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 16th
September 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
MUSHET, of Coleford, in the County of Gloucester, Metallurgist, send
greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Robert Mushet, Her special licence that I, the said Robert
Mushet, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Robert Mushet, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
timo agree with, and no others; from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed,, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain

page_text: and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CAST STEEL,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert Mushet,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 Robert Mushet, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in alloying cast steel with the metal titanium; by
which said alloying the quality of the cast steel is improved. I prefer to carry
my Invention into effect in the manner berein-after explained; but I do not
limit myself to the details of the methods herein explained, as the methods
berein explained of carrying my Invention into effect may be modified without
departing from the nature of my said Invention.
I introduce titanic acid or titanium ore mixed with carbonaceous matters
into a melting pot or crucible placed in a suitable furnace, the said pot or
crucible also containing the blister or other steel which it is intended to melt
into cast steel, and with which titanium is to be alloyed. I heat the said
substances together until the steel is melted and the titanium is reduced and
alloyed therewith; or I introduce metallic titanium along with the steel into
the melting pot or crucible placed in a suitable furnace, and I therein heat the
said steel and titanium until they are melted and alloyed. The melting pots
or crucibles which I prefer to use, and the melting furnaces I prefer to employ,
are such as are ordinarily used by steel manufacturers for melting cast steel.
In carrying my Invention into effect I use any of the ores of titanium, such
as rutile, brookite, schorlomite, anatase, iscrine, or ilmenite, or I use titanic
acid separated by any method or process from these ores; or I use any other
ores or compounds of titanium which may be reduced by being heated in
contact with carbonaceous matter. Some ores of titanium contain a con-
siderable mixture of other substances in addition to titanic acid. Thus, an ore of
titanium may contain from twenty to thirty parts per centum by weight of lime
or silica, or it may contain from twenty to eighty parts per centum by weight
of oxide of iron and other substances. In making use of such ores of titanium
as are poor in titanic acid, I treat them in the manner that I treat the richer

page_text: ores of titanium, being careful, however, when I use a poor ore to add to the
steel a larger portion than the proportion I add when I employ a rich ore. I
prepare the ores or compounds of titanium or the titanic acid for my process
by stamping, crushing, or otherwise reducing them into the state of a very fine
powder. This powder I mix with carbonaceous matter in the proportion of
one part by weight of the pulverized titanium ore or compound or titanic acid
to from one to two parts by weight of carbonaceous matter, though I do not
confine myself to these proportions, as the proportions may be varied. The
carbonaceous matter which I prefer to use is common pitch or resin, but coal
tar may be employed in place of pitch or resin. I melt the pitch or resin in
an iron pot or kettle, and to every twenty pounds of the pitch or resin I add,
when the said pitch or resin is melted, from ten pounds to twenty pounds of the
pulverized oro or compound of titanium or titanic acid, and stir the mixture
with a stick or rod, so as to blend and thoroughly mix and incorporate the
ingredients. I then pour out the mixture upon a cold pavement or flagstone,
which may be moistened to prevent the pitch from adhering to it. When cold
the mixture or compound may be broken up into pieces for use; but I do
not confine myself to these proportions, though I find that these answer well
in practice. To every forty pounds of blister or other steel intended to bo
melted into cast steel I add a quantity of the compound of pitch or resin and
titanium ore or titanic acid, amounting to from four ounces to one pound,
according to the degree of "body" and hardness which I desire that the cast
steel shall possess; and I introduce the steel and the before-mentioned
compound together into a melting crucible or pot placed in a suitable melting
furnace, and I heat the said steel and compound therein until they are melted,
and the titanium reduced and alloyed with the steel. I then pour the cast
steel into suitable ingot or other moulds in the usual manner.
The greater
the proportion of the mixture of titanium ore or titanic acid with carbonaceous
matter which is added to the steel, the harder will the cast steel be made; but
in practice the proportions I have herein-before given will yield most of the
different qualities of cast steel required in commerce; I do not, however,
confine myself to these proportions, as the proportions may be varied without
departing from the nature of my Invention.
The essence of my Invention consists in combining and alloying the metal
titanium with cast steel, whereby the quality of the cast steel is improved.
Metallic titanium is occasionally found in alloy with cast iron in various
proportions, or it may be alloyed with cast iron in various proportions; and I
sometimes employ this alloy for the purpose of producing the alloy of cast steel
with titanium. For this purpose I find it sufficient to add to every forty

page_text: pounds of blister or other steel intended to be melted into cast steel as much
of the alloy of titanium and cast iron as shall be found to contain from one-
fourth part of an ounce to four ounces of metallic titanium; but I do not
confine myself to these proportions. I introduce the steel and the alloy of
cast iron and titanum into a pot or crucible placed in a furnace of the
ordinary kind used for melting steel; and I heat the steel and the said alloy of
cast iron and titanium therein until they are melted, when I withdraw the
melting pot and pour the metal into ingot or other moulds in the usual
manner. The alloying of cast steel with titanium may either be effected by
the processes berein-before described, or by any other convenient and
economical method or process. When I employ the oro of titanium called
schorlomite for my process, I proceed as follows:-I stamp, crush, or
pulverise the schorlomite so that it will pass through a sieve or riddle of
2,500 meshes to the square inch, or fifty meshes per linear inch; I melt
twenty pounds of pitch or resin in a pitch pot or kettle, and into this pitch or
resin when melted T stir ten pounds of the pulverized-schorlomite, and I pour
the mixture out upon a cold moist stone or pavement, or into a stone trough,
where it consolidates into a hard brittle mass. This mass I break up into
pieces the size of a walnut and under, for convenience in using for my process.
To forty pounds of mild blister or other steel intended to be melted into cast
steel I add twelve ounces of the compound of schorlomite and pitch which I
have described. I introduce these substances into a melting pot or crucible
placed in a melting furnace, and I heat the said substances therein until the
steel is melted, and the schorlomito is reduced, and its titanium is alloyed
with the steel; I then withdraw the melting pot from the furnace, and pour
the cast steel into an ingot or other suitable mould prepared to receive it. If
a harder quality of cast steel is required than that produced by the proportion
last described, add sixteen ounces of the compound of pitch and schorlomite
to forty pounds of mild blister or other steel, or I add twelve ounces of the
said compound to forty pounds of a harder or more highly converted kind of
blister steel intended to be melted into cast steel. When employ the ore of
titanium called iserine for my process, I pulverise the said iserine so that it
will pass a sieve or riddle of about 2,500 meshes per square inch, and having
melted twenty pounds of pitch or resin in a pitch pot or kettle, I mix and stir
into the said melted pitch or resin twenty pounds of pulverised iserine, and I
pour out the mixture upon a cold moistened stone or pavement, and when
cold I break the compound of pitch and iserine into small pieces the size of a
walnut and under ready for use. To forty pounds of mild or lightly converted
blister or other steel intended to be melted into cast steel I add one pound of

page_text: the said compound of iserine and pitch. I introduce these substances into a
melting pot or crucible placed in a melting furnace, and I heat the said
substances therein until the steel is melted, and the iserine is reduced, and its
titanium is alloyed with the steel; I then withdraw the melting pot from the
furnace, and pour the cast steel into an ingot or other suitable mould prepared
to receive it. When I employ for my process rutile, or brookite, or ilmenite,
or titanic acid, or any other titanium compound not particularized, I proceed
in the manner which I have herein-before described when detailing my
method of using schorlomite in my process.
I do not confine myself to the proportion's I have herein-before given, either
for the mixture of the pulverized ores or compounds of titanium with pitch or
resin, or for the mixtures of the compounds of titanium ore and pitch or resin
with the steel, for the proportions may bo varied without departing from the
nature of my Invention. Coal tar may be employed in place of pitch or resin,
but I prefer the latter as more cleanly and convenient.
When metallic titanium is employed in my process, I simply add to forty
pounds of blister or other steel intended to be melted into cast steel, from one-
fourth of an ounce to four ounces of metallic titanium, and I heat these
substances together in a melting pot or crucible until the steel is melted, and
the titanium is also melted and alloyed with the said steel, I then pour the
steel into an ingot or other mould: When an alloy of iron and titanium is
employed in my process, I first ascertain by analysis the proportion or per-
centage of titanium contained in the said alloy of iron and titanium; I then
add to forty pounds of blister or other steel intended to be melted into cast
steal such a quantity of the said alloy of titanium and iron as shall contain
from one-quarter of an ounce to four ounces of metallic titanium. I introduce
these substances into a melting pot or crucible placed in a melting furnace,
and I heat them therein until they are melted; I then withdraw the melting
pot from the furnace, and pour the cast steel alloyed with titanium into an
ingot or other mould prepared to receive it. Alloys of iron and titanium are
sometimes found in large masses in the hearths of blast furnaces, and these
masses may be broken or melted up and employed for my process; but I
prefer to employ the ores of titanium or titanic acid for my process, as they
may be procured free or nearly free from sulphur or phosphorus, and the
titanic acid is for the most part associated in most of the ores enumerated,
chiefly with oxide of iron, which is in no way hurtful to the success of my
process. By increasing the proportion of titanium ore and pitch or resin
added to the blister or other steel and melted therewith, the hardness of the

page_text: steel will be increased, especially when the weight of pitch or resin exceeds
the weight of the titanium ore mixed with the said pitch or resin.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the methods by
which I carry the said Invention into effect, I declare that the essence of my
Invention consists in alloying cast steel with titanium, in order thereby to
improve the quality of the cast steel, such cast steel being prepared by melting
blister or other steel in the manner ordinarily practised by manufacturers of
cast steel, and alloying titanium therewith during the said melting, as I have
lierein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Mushet, have hereunto set my
hand and scal, this Tenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witnesses,
EDW. M. MUSHET,
Coleford, Gloucestershire.
BROOKLYN MUSHET,
Coleford, Gloucestershire. :
ROBT. MUSHET. (L.S.)