IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL
WHOM THESE PRESI
SHALL COME, 1, VILLIAM
ONIONS, of Southwark, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Seventh day of
February, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the fourteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Onions, my exors, adñiors, and assigns; Her especial license,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William Onions, my
exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Onions, my
exors, admiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Guern-
sey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her said Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF STEEL;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a pro-
viso, that I, the said William Onions, shall cause a particular description of the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be enrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Onions, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say: -
My Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of cast steel, and
consists of melting certain matters together and annealing the product. And
in order that my Invention may be most fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me. I take two
parts by weight of hæmatite ore, that is, ore of the character known as Cum-
berland ore, ground or beaten to a coarse powder, which I place in a crucible,
and I add four parts by weight of steel made in the ordinary manner, and
ninety-four parts by weight of iron; the iron I use is that made from Cum-
berland ore or other iron which in like manner will, on annealing, become
malleable when treated as herein described and broken up into pieces; and I
cause these matters to be melted; and as I find that it is better at once to make
the cast articles, in place of making ingots or bars and remelting, I run the
melted metal at once into sand moulds prepared according to the nature of
the articles intended to be produced of cast steel; and having thus obtained
castings, I subject. them to the process of annealing, by which they will be
rendered malleable, and the same may then be tempered in like manner
to articles made of other steel. The annealing process is to be carried on in
like manner to that resorted to for rendering castings of iron made from Cum-
berland and such like ores malleable, that is, by placing the articles into pots
or boxes with the powder of Cumberland ore, or other matter heretofore used
in the annealing process, and subjecting to heat for a time, which varies,
as is well known, according to the thickness of the articles, and therefore
it is desirable that the articles subjected to the process of annealing at the
same time should be as nearly as may be of like substance or thickness;
and I find that the heat should not be raised too quickly or too high, great
care being required in performing the process of annealing; but persons
who have heretofore practised the process of annealing malleable cast iron
will soon become accustomed to annealing this metal. I find that articles
about one inch square, say bars, take about one hundred' and 'twenty hours
after they have been raised to a red heat, and I cause the heat to be raised up
to the red heat in about twenty-four hours, and having retained it at the red
heat, as before stated, for about one hundred and twenty hours, I allow it to
go down very gradually, that is, in about twenty-four hours. Articles of
greater or less thickness will respectively, as is well understood, require more
or less time than those of the substance mentioned. The cast-steel articles

page_text: thus produced may be now cut or dressed with suitable tools, and may thus be
shaped or dressed, or partially formed, and then tempered in the ordinary
manner of tempering steel.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that although I have
been particular in giving the exact quantities of the materials which I use, and
which I believe to be the best, I do not confine myself thereto, as other means
may be employed in the process of melting; but what I claim is, the mode of
manufacturing cast steel by melting matters together and annealing the pro-
ducts, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Onions, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
Enrolled the Sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-one.