AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND COMPOUND FOR TEMPERING AND REFINING STEEL.
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND COMPOUND FOR TEMPERING
AND REFINING STEEL.' -A communication from abroad by William
Norton Severance, of South Bend, Indiana, United States of:
America.
"
Scaled the 7th March 1873, and dated the 13th September 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 13th September 1872.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
3 Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND COMPOUND FOR
TEMPERING AND REFINING STEEL," a communication, to be as follows:—
I first heat the steel to a cherry red in a clean smith's fire, and then
cover the steel with chloride of sodium (common salt), purifying the fire

page_text: also by throwing in salt. I work the steel in this condition, and while
subjected to this treatment until it is brought into nearly its finished
form. I then substitute for the salt a compound of the following ingre-
dients in and about the proportions given.
The following are the quantities for a bath of 25 gallons:-3 lbs. 2 oz.
sulphate of copper; 3 lbs. 2 oz. sal soda; 3 lbs. sal ammoniac; 2 lbs. 6 oz.
alum; 1½ lbs. nitrate of potassium; 6¼ lbs. rock salt. These sub-
stances are all finely pulverized, and mixed thoroughly; when dry I add
1½ lbs. sal soda and 3 lbs. sal ammoniac pulverized and mixed. The
compound must be kept in glass or stone vessels covered tightly.
When used I take out and pulverize it, so as to have no lumps stick to
the steel to speck it.
Concentrated lye pulverized 1%, oz. to a pound of the above compound
may be used to renew the compound in place of sal soda and sal
ammoniac.
A small quantity of the compound may be prepared as follows, viz. :-
12 oz. rock salt; 1 oz. sulphate of copper; 1 oz. sal ammoniac; 1 oz. sal
soda; oz. nitrate of potassium; 1½ oz. of alum. When prepared and dry
I add, oz. sal soda and 1 oz. sal ammoniac. All of these ingredients
must be pulverized, and kept in tight glass or stone vessels covered.
I alternately heat the steel, and treat it by covering with this mixture,
and hammering until it is thoroughly refined and brought into its
finished form. I then return it to the fire, and heat it slowly to a cherry
red, and then plunge it into a bath composed of the following ingre-
dients in substantially the following proportions for a 25 gallon bath :--
2 lbs. 6 oz. sulphate of copper; 2 lbs. sal soda; 2 lbs. sal ammoniac;
2 lbs. 6 oz. alum; % lb. nitrate of potassium; 9 lbs. 6 oz. rock salt.
I dissolve each article by itself in a small quantity of boiling water;
then stir well before filling up barrel with hot water. I pour them together,
adding the sal soda and sal ammoniac last. When mixed together I add
hot water to make up the 25 gallons. A week after the bath is prepared
I add one pound of sal soda and two pounds of sal ammoniac dissolved
in hot water, each by itself. The bath is ready for use when first made
after cooling, and when renewed a week after will last for months; it
must be kept covered when not in use.
'

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th March 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patents Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence
that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, 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 "AN IMPROVED PROCESS
AND COMPOUND FOR TEMPERING AND REFINING STEEL," a communication to me
from abroad by William Norton Severance, of South Bend, Indiana,
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Robert Lake, 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 William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
The first part of this Invention relates to the treatment of steel, and
consists, first, in subjecting it while in the process of forging to the
chemical action of a new composition, whereby the quality of the steel
is improved by purification; secondly, in using in tempering the steel,
when forged into the required form, a bath of certain substances in

page_text: solution, by which the temper and quality of the steel are improved;
and, thirdly, in uniting in one process the two operations, whereby a
better result is obtained than could be effected by the use of either
alone.
The second part of this Invention relates to the treatment of cast
iron, and consists, first, in introducing into the cast iron while in a
molten state a certain proportion of the new composition used in treating
steel; secondly, in covering cast-iron articles while at a cherry red heat
with said composition, and hammering the iron thus covered; thirdly,
in subjecting the cast iron to the action of a bath like that for the
steel; fourthly, in uniting in one process the successive steps of this
treatment.
In the treatment of steel according to this Invention the same is
heated to a cherry red heat in an ordinary clean smith's fire; then
withdrawn from the fire, and immediately covered with pure chloride of
sodium (common salt), the fire being also cleansed by throwing upon it
a portion of the same salt. The steel is worked in this condition, and
while subjected to this treatment until it is brought into nearly its
finished form. At that stage a compound is substituted for the salt, the
compound being composed of the following ingredients, and in about
the following propertions:-Two (2) parts by weight of chloride of
sodium; one and one-half (1) part by weight of sulphate of copper;
one and one-half (12) part by weight of sal soda; one and one-half (1½)
part by weight of sal amoniac; three-fourths (3/4) part by weight of nitrate
of potassium. These ingredients are pulverized, and thoroughly mixed.
The steel is alternately heated and treated with this mixture by covering
it therewith, and hammering it until it is thoroughly refined and brought
into its finished form. Then the steel is returned to the fire, and slowly
heated to a cherry red, and then withdrawn and plunged into a bath
composed of the following ingredients for the required quantity :-
Pure rain water, one (1) gallon; chloride of sodium, six (6) ounces;
sulphate of copper, one and one-half (1%) ounces; sal soda, one and
one-half (12) ounces; sal amoniac, one and one-half (1) ounce;
alum, one and one-half (1) ounce; nitrate. of potassium, one-half ()
ounce.
:-
The chemicals are pulverized separately, and introduced into the
water, which is then heated to a boiling point. The solution will be ready

page_text: In the treatment of cast iron the first step is to introduce one (1)
pound of the above specified compound into from twenty (20) to one
hundred (100) pounds of the iron while it is in a molten state, and just
previous to running it into moulds. The subsequent stages of the
treatment are the same as those prescribed for the treatment of steel,
both the compound and the bath being applied in the same manner.
The quantities and proportions given for the preparation of the com-
pound and the bath are those which are regarded as practically the best,
but it is manifest that they may be somewhat changed without departing
from the principle of the Invention herein set forth.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I do not claim the use of any one of the
substances employed in the preparation of the compound and the bath
when separately considered; but I do claim,-
First. The successive processes or steps of the process herein described,
with the use of the materials or their equivalents, as prescribed for the
treatment of steel.
Second. The successive processes or steps of the process described,
with the use of the materials or their equivalents, as prescribed for the
treatment of cast iron.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
Witness,
.
JA. EDWARDS,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.
W. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)