A NEW OR IMPROVED METALLIC ALLOY
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Mushet, of Coleford, in the County of
Gloucester, Metallurgist, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
METALLIC ALLOY."
Sealed the 17th June 1859, and dated the 12th January 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Mushet at the.
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th January 1859.
I, ROBERT MUSHET, of Coleford, in the County of Gloucester, Metallurgist,
do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED
METALLIC ALLOY," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of an alloy composed of cast iron and metallic
tungsten. In carrying my Invention into effect, I proceed by preference in
the manner herein-after described, but do not limit myself thereto, as the
method of making the said alloy may be varied without departing from the
nature of my said Invention.
I take lumps or pieces of cast iron, and having heated them strongly to a
temperature a little short of their melting point, I stamp, pulverize, or crush
them, so as to reduce the cast iron to the state of a coare powder; or I granu-
late cast iron in any other convenient manner, preferring, however, to reduce
[Price 8d.]

page_text: it into minute granules. To this pulverized or finely granulated cast iron I
add a quantity of pulverized oxyde of tungsten or tungstic acid, or preferably
of pulverised common ore of tungsten called "wolfram," or "wolfram ore," or
tungstate of iron and manganese; I then mix the pulverized or finely
granulated cast iron and the pulverized wolfram thoroughly together, and I
introduce the mixture into clay pots or crucioles placed in furnaces,suchasare
ordinarily used for melting steel,and I treat the mixture therein until it is in
a fluid state; I then withdraw the melting pots from the furnace, and pour
their contents into suitable moulds, to form ingots,pigs, or pieces of the alloy
of tungsten and cast iron. I prefer to use the best descriptions or qualities of
cast iron, and the cleanest and richest ores or oxydes of tungsten. The
proportions of tungsten ore or wolfram to be mixed with the pulverized or
finely granulated cast iron vary according to the nature of the cast iron and
according to the proportion of metallic tungsten which is to be alloyed with
the cast iron, but I find in practice that 24 lbs. by weight of pulverized or finely
granulated grey cast iron,and 8 lbs. by weight of pulverized tungsten ore or
wolfram of 50 per cent. produce in metallic tungsten, yield when mixed and
melied together a hard and solid alloy of cast iron and tungsten, consisting of
about twenty-two parts by weight of iron,and four parts by weight of tungsten,
which, when cast into an ingot, may be rolled or hammered when moderately
heated into bars or plates, possessed when in the cold state of considerable
strength and great hardness and density. By adding a lesser proportion of
pulverized tungsten ore or wolfram to be granulated or pulverized cast iron,
and melting these substances together, a harder alloy of cast iron and tungsten
may be obtained, but it is less ductile, and will not bear so much heat under
the hammer. By adding a greater proportion of pulverized tungsten ore or
wolfram to the pulverized or granulated cast iron, and then melting them
together, a softer and more tenacious alloy of cast iron and metallic tungsten
is obtained, which will bear more heat under the hammer,and is more ductile
and extensible into bars or sheets when heated.
In order to form a softer proportion of the alloy of cast iron aud metallic
tungsten than that of the mixture given above, I mix 24 lbs. of pulverized or
fiuely granulated grey cast iron with 12lbs. of pulverized wolfram,and I melt
the mixture in a clay pot or crucible, placed in an ordinary steel melting
furnace, and heated until the alloy is in the fluid state; I then pour the
melted metal into an ingot mould, or into any other suitable mould for
forming a casting of the desired shape or size. Carbonaceous matters may be
added to the mixture of pulverized or finely granulated cast iron and pulverized
tungsten oreor wolfram,but I do not claim the addition of such carbonaceous

page_text: matters as of my said Invention, neither is such an addition essential to the
success of my process; nor do claim as of my said Invention any method or
process for pulverizing or granulating cast iron, and which may be performed.
in any usual and economical many r. Neither do I. confine myself to the
melting, of the pulverized-or-finely, granulated cast iron when mixed with
pulverized tungsten or wolfram in pots or crucibles only, for these substances.
may be melted together in any other convenient manner; but what I claim is
the manufacture of an alloy of cast.irou, and metallic tungsten, prepared by
melting in any suitable crucibles, furnaces, or chamber,for melting a mixture
of pulverized or granulated cast iron and pulverized oxide or ore of tungsten
or wolfram.
In, manufacturing this.alloy of cast iron and metallic tungsten, pieces of
scrap.or wrought iron or steel may be introduced along with the pulverized or
granulated cast iron and tungsten ore or wolfram into the melting pots, and
may be melted therein along with the cast iron and tungsten ore or wolfram,.
but I do not claim this, addition, of scrap iron, or, wrought iron or steel to
the mixture as of my said Invention, neither is such an addition essential
to the success of my process..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Mushet in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th July 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 Twelfth day of January, 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 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED METALLIC,,
ALLOY, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the, said Robert Musbet,
93.

page_text: my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and' seals, 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 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 of an alloy composed of cast iron and metallic
tungsten. In carrying my Invention into effect, I proceed, by preference, in
the manner herein-after described, but do not limit myself thereto, as the
method of making the said alloy may be varied without departing from the
nature of my said Invention.
I take lumps or pieces of cast iron, and having heated them strongly to a
temperature a little short of their melting point, I stamp, pulverize, or crush
them, so as to reduce the said cast iron to the state of a coarse powder, or I
granulate cast iron in any other convenient manner, preferring, however, to
reduce it to granules of the size herein-after described. To this pulverized or
finely granulated cast iron I add a quantity of pulverized oxide of tungsten,
or tungstic acid, or, preferably, of pulverized common ore of tungsten
commonly called wolfram or wolfram ore or tungstate of iron and manganese.
I mix the pulverized or finely granulated cast iron and the pulverized wolfram
thoroughly together, and I heat the said mixture in melting pots or crucibles,
placed in a steel melting furnace until it is melted and is in a liquid state; I
then withdraw the melting pots from the furnace, and pour the alloy of iron and
tungsten into suitable moulds to form ingots, pigs, or other shapes or masses
of the alloy of tungsten and cast iron. I prefer to use the best descriptions or
qualities of cast iron, and the cleanest and richest ores or oxides of tungsten.
The proportion of tungsten ore or wolfrain to be mixed with the pulverized or
finely granulated cast iron varies according to the nature of the cast iron and
according to the proportion of metallic tungsten which is to be alloyed with
the cast iron, but I find in practice that twenty-four pounds of pulverized or
finely granulated grey cast iron, and eight pounds of pulverized tungsten ore
or wolfram containing fifty per centum of metallic tungsten, yield when mixed
and melted together a hard and solid alloy of cast iron and tungsten consisting
of about twenty parts by weight of iron, and four parts by weight of tungsten,
which said alloy, when cast into an ingot, may be rolled or hammered when

page_text: moderately heated, into bars or plates, possessed, when in the cold state, of
considerable strength and great hardness and density. By adding a lesser
proportion of pulverized tungsten ore or wolfram to the granulated or
pulverized cast iron, and melting these substances together, a harder alloy
of cast iron and tungsten may be obtained, but it is less ductile, and will not
bear so much heat under the hammer. By adding a greater proportion of
pulverized tungsten ore or wolfram to the pulverized or granulated cast iron,
and then melting them together, a softer and more tenacious alloy of cast iron
and metallic tungsten is obtained, which will bear more heat under the
hammer, and is more ductile and extensible into bars or sheets when heated.
In order to form a softer alloy of cast iron and metallic tungsten than that
of the mixture last described, I mix twenty-four pounds of pulverized or finely
granulated cast iron with twelve pounds of pulverized wolfram, and Imelt the
mixture in a clay pot or crucible placed in an ordinary steel melting furnace,
and heated until the alloy is in the fluid state; I then pour the melted metal
into an ingot mould or any other suitable mould for forming a casting of the
desired shape or size. Carbonaceous matters may be added to the mixture of
pulverized or finely granulated cast iron and pulverized tungsten ore or
wolfram, but such addition of carbonaceous matter is not essential to the
success of my process.
I do not claim as of my said Invention any method or process for pulverizing
or granulating cast iron, and which may be performed in any usual and
economical manner; neither do I confine myself to the melting of the
pulverized or finely granulated cast iron when mixed with pulverized tungsten
ore or wolfram in pots or crucibles only, for these substances may be melted
together in any other convenient manner.
In manufacturing an alloy of cast iron and metallic tungsten, pieces of scrap
and wrought or malleable iron or steel may be introduced along with the
pulverized or grauulated cast iron, and tungsten ore or wolfram into the
melting pots, and may be melted therein along with the cast iron and tungsten
ore or wolfram, but the addition of scrap and wrought or malleable iron or
steel is not essential to the success of my process.
The cast iron which I prefer to use is that known in commence as No. 1
iron or melting iron, being rich grey iron, and I select cast iron of this
description which has been smelted from pure hematite, specular, or magnetic
iron ores with charcoal fuel, or with coke fuel, either naturally free from
sulphur, or which has been artificially desulphurised by any convenient
method, and I carefully avoid such cast iron as contains a notable amount of
sulphur or phosphorus, I prepare the cast iron for my process by breaking the

page_text: of my
pigs of iron into lumps of from twenty to forty pounds each. These lumps. I
hent in a reverberatory furnace with the flame of coal, or I heat them in an
ordinary steel melting furnace with coke fuel to a temperature somewhat.
short of the melting point of the said cast iron; I then place the heated lumps.
of pig iron in iron mortars, and beat upon them with iron pestles until the
said lumps are reduced to a granular state, and I prefer to granulate the said
cast iron sufficiently to pass the meshes of a sieve or riddle of five meshes per,
linear inch, or twenty-five meshes per square inch, though I do not confine
myself to this particular degree of granulation. I do not, however, claim as
Invention any method for granulating cast iron, which may be done in
any convenient economical manner. When the cast iron has been granulated
and passed through a riddle or sieve in the manner I, have herein-before,
described, it is ready for my process. The wolfram which I prefer to use i
that which contains the largest per-centage of tungsten, that is, to say, such
wolfram as contains about sixty per cent. of tungsten. I prepare the wolfram
for my process by crushing, grinding, or stamping it until it is reduced to a
fine powder, and I prefer to pulverize the said wolfram, so that it will pass
through a sieve or riddle of fifty meshes per linear inch, or two thousand
five hundred meshes per square inch, observing, however, that, it is not
absolutely essential to pulverize the wolfram to this degree of fineness, but I
find that the said wolfram is more readily reduced when mixed with the
granular cast iron when the said wolfrain has been fiuely pulverized, than
when it has been only coarsely powdered. The wolfram when prepared as I
have herein-before last described is ready for my process..
T
is
To twenty-four pounds of the granulated No. 1 cast iron, prepared as I
have herein-before described, I add eight pounds of the prepared pulverized
wolfram, and having well, mixed these substances together, I introduce the
said mixed substances into a melting pot or crucible, placed in an ordinary.
steel melting furnace, and I heat the said mixed substances therein until the
granular cast iron is melted, and the tungsten of the wolfram is reduced by
the carbon of the said cast iron, and alloyed with the said cast iron; I then
withdraw the melting pot from the furnace, and pour the alloy of cast iron
and tungsten into an ingot mould, or into any other mould which it is intended
to employ. The ingot thus obtained may be heated to a moderate heat,.
technically called a "fair cast steel heat," and may then be subjected to the
action of hammers or rollers, and thereby be drawn into bars, plates, or rods
of such sizes as are required. By diminishing or increasing the relative
quantity of propertion of the prepared wolfram, whilst the quantity of
granular cast iron mixed and melted witli it remains the same, the hardness
1
1.

page_text: of the resulting alloy of cast iron and tungstenwill likewise becorrespondingly
increased or diminished. Or by increasing or diminishing the relative quantity
or proportion of the granular cast iron, whilst the quantity of the prepared
wolfram mixed and melted with the said cast iron remains the same, the
hardness of the resulting alloy of cast iron and tungsten will likewise be cor-
respondingly increased or diminished, so that by varying the relative pro-
portion of the wolfram, whilst the quantity of granular cast iron with which
it is mixed remains the same, or by varying the relative proportion of the
granular cast iron, whilst the quantity of wolfram with which it is mixed
remains the same, alloys of cast iron and tungsten of various degrees of
hardness may be readily obtained. When the grey cast iron employed
contains a lesser per-centage of carbon than that usually found in No. 1
grey pig iron, the following proportions afford a good result:-
Prepared granular pig iron
Prepared wolfram containing about sixty per centum
of metallic tungsten
-
30 lbs.
8 lbs.
These substances I mixed together, and then introduced the mixture into a
melting pot placed in an ordinary steel melting furnace, and heat the said
mixture therein until the iron is melted, the wolfram reduced, and the alloy
of cast iron and tungsten effected; I then withdraw the melting pot from the
melting furnace, and pour the alloy of cast iron and tungsten into an ingot
mould or into any other mould which may be employed. I wish it to be
understood that when the relative proportion of wolfram added to the granular
cast iron is increased to the ratio of twelve pounds of wolfram to twenty-four
pounds of granular cast iron, the resulting alloy of cast iron and tungsten
will possess some of the characteristics of wrought or malleable iron, though
the said alloy will be much barder than malleable iron. When the relative
proportion of wolfram added to the granular cast iron is diminished to the
ratio of four pounds of wolfram to twenty-four pounds of granular cast iron,
the resulting alloy will possess most of the characteristics of hard white cast
iron. And when the relative proportion of wolfram added to the granular
cast iron is in the ratio of from six to eight pounds of wolfram to twenty-four
pounds of granular cast iron, the resulting alloy possesses many of the
characteristics of steel, and may be forged, hardened, and tempered in a
similar manner.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention in the manner in which
I prefer to carry the said Invention into effect. I wish it to be understood that
what I claim is, the manufacture of an alloy of cast iron and metallic tungsten
prepared by melting in any suitable pots or crucibles, furnaces, or chambers

page_text: for melting a mixture of pulverised or granulated cast iron and pulverised
oxide or ore of tungsten or wolfram.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Mushet, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witnesses,
Epw. M. MUSHET,
Coleford, Gloucestershire.
BROOKLYN MUSHET,
Coleford, Gloucestershire.
ROBT. MUSHET. (L.S.)