IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF VARNISHES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Gray, of Union Road, New Wandsworth,
in the County of Surrey, Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF VARNISHES."
Sealed the 22nd December 1869, and dated the 26th June 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Gray at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th June 1869.
I, THOMAS GRAY, of Union Road, New Wandsworth, in the County
of Surrey, Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF VARNISHES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the use and combination of the materials
as herein-after mentioned.
I put one or more of the gums known as kourie, Siera Leone, and
other hard copal gums into the copper or copper pot in about the
following proportions, viz. :-To one cwt. of such gum or gums I add
about 1 cwt. of purified or unpurified castor oil of commerce, I then
apply a slow heat thereto up to about 300 (Fahrenheit) degrees of heat,
and stir the admixture until the gum or gums are sufficiently dissolved

page_text: and united with the castor oil. I then add to that admixture about
1 cwt. of linseed oil in a cold state, or heated to about a like tem-
perature of 300 degrees, but I prefer to use it in a heated state, and I
keep the heat applied and the admixture stirred until the said materials
are sufficiently blended and united.
It will be necessary in some cases to add to and stir in the above
admixture one or more "dryers," such as copperas, litharge, or other
dryer, but I prefer litharge for that purpose, in the proportion of
about 6 or 7 lbs. to each cwt. of the admixture, and when the ad-
mixture is sufficiently cool I add in some cases spirits of turpentine,
mythilated spirit, or other spirits usually employed in the manufacture
of copal varnish. The proportion of such spirits will depend on the con-
sistency required in the varnish, but as an example I mention that
about 1 quart thereof will be sufficient to be added to 1 cwt. of the
admixture, and in some cases instead of the spirits I add what is known
as fusil oil in about the proportion of 1 pint to the cwt., or I use the
spirit and the oil commixed in proportions to be regulated according
to the required consistency of the varnish.
For some purposes I do not use any linseed oil in the composition,
but use the gums and castor oil only, as before stated, and without
any dryers or spirits, or with dryers and spirits, or one of them, in
the proportions according to the purposes for which the varnish is
intended.
I do not limit myself to the above stated order of mixing the materials,
the proportions thereof, or the heat to be applied thereto, because, for
some purposes varnishes are required to be more or less hard, and to
have more or less colour than for others.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Gray in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th December 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
GRAY, of Union Road, New Wandsworth, in the County of Surrey,
Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of June, in the year

page_text: of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Gray, Her special licence
that I, the said Thomas Gray, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Gray, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF VARNISHES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Thomas Gray, my executors or administrators, by au
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 Thomas Gray, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :--
My Invention consists in the use and combination of the materials
as herein-after mentioned.
I put one or more of the gums known as kouric, Sierra Leone, and
such other hard gums as are usually employed in the manufacture of
copal varnish into the copper or copper pot in about the following pro-
portions, viz., to 1 cwt. of such gum or gums I add about 1 cwt. of
purified or unpurified castor oil of commerce. I then apply a slow
heat thereto up to about 300 Fahrenheit degrees of heat, and stir the
admixture until the gum or gums are sufficiently dissolved and united
with the castor oil. I then add to that admixture about 1 cwt. of
linseed oil in a cold state, or heated to about a like temperature of
300 degrees, but I prefer to use it in a heated state, and I keep the
heat applied and the admixture stirred until the said materials are
sufficiently blended and united.
It will be necessary in some cases to add to and stir in the above
admixture one or more "dryers," such as copperas, litharge, or other

page_text: known dryers, but I prefer litharge for that purpose in the proportion
of about 6 or 7 lbs. to the above admixture, and when the admixture
is sufficiently cool I add in some cases spirits of turpentine, methylated
spirit, or other spirits usually employed in the manufacture of copal
varnish, the proportion of such spirit will depend on the consistency
required in the varnish, but as an example I mention that about 1 quart
thereof will be sufficient to be added to 1 cwt of the admixture, and in
some cases instead of the spirits I add what is known as fusil oil in
about the proportion of 1 pint to the cwt, or I use the spirit and
the oil commixed in proportions to be regulated according to the
required consistency of the varnish.
For some purposes I do not use any linseed oil in the composition,
but use the gums and castor oil only, as before stated, and without
any dryers or spirits, or with dryers and spirits, or one of them, in
the proportions according to the purposes for which the varnish is
intended.
I do not limit myself to the above stated order of mixing the materials,
the proportions thereof, or the heat to be applied thereto, because for
some purposes varnishes are required to be more or less hard and to
have more or less colour than for others.
In order to make my Invention better understood I give the following
more particular description :-
To make a useful varnish for varnishing doors and other household
and other articles. To 1 lb and S ozs. of the kouric or other of the said
hard gums I add 9 ozs. of castor oil, and when united, as before described,
by heat, I add 2 lbs. and 7 ozs. of prepared linseed oil, and when those
materials are sufficiently united, as before described, I add and stir in for
about ten minutes half an ounce of a dryer, for which I prefer litharge,
and having removed the sediment thereof by straining I gently recheat
it to about 200 degrees of Fahrenheit, and add and stir in one pint of
spirits of turpentine, and then add and stir in 2 ozs. of copperas until
the bubbling ceases; I then allow it to stand for about twelve hours; I
then gently reheat it and add and stir in about 4 to 5 lbs. of spirits of
turpentine according to the quality thereof; the composition is then
allowed to stand for two or three days, and it is afterwards strained off.
To make a quick drying varnish.-To the above varnish I add and
stir therein, while heated to about 200 degrees of Fahrenheit, one ounce

page_text: of sugar of lead until the bubbling ceases, and it is then allowed to cool,
and if necessary it should be re-strained.
To make a varnish with the kouric gum without any linseed oil.―
To 12 ozs. of castor oil, I add 2 lbs. of the gum, and dissolve and unite
them, as before mentioned, and when heated to about 150 degrees of
Fahrenheit, I add and stir in 6 lbs. of camphine or spirits of turpentine,
but for this purpose I prefer camphine and 1 oz. of copperas, and when
the admixture has cooled I add 10 ozs. of methylated spirit, or spirits
of wine, or fusil oil.
For vanishing or coating pictures, show cards, leather, cloth, metal,
woven fabrics and other materials, on which a hard surface is required,
I increase the quantity of kouric gum in the last-mentioned admixture
from 2 lbs. to 2 lbs. 3 ozs., but it must be understood with reference to
the processes I have described, that as the quality and strength of the
ingredients above mentioned will necessarily vary it will be obvious
that the proportions must to some extent be varied also, and that more
or less spirit or dryers should be used, according to the consistency of
the varnish required.
The quantities herein specified are calculated according to avoirdupois
weight.
The above-described varnishes may be employed for many other useful
purposes than those enumerated.
Having described the nature of my said Invention for "Improve-
ments in the Manufacture of Varnishes," and in what manner the sanio
is or may be performed, I wish it to be understood that what I claim
as my Invention is, the combinations and treatment of the materials,
substantially as hercin-before mentioned and described, the castor oil
being the essential ingredient therein.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Gray, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Twenty-fourth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.