IMPROVED METALLIC COMPOUNDS OR MIXTURES, AND MODE OF CASTING THE SAME IN MOULDS
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Hutchinson, of 34, Muschamp Road, East
Dulwich, in the County of Surrey, for an Invention of "IMPROVED
METALLIC COMPOUNDS OR MIXTURES, AND MODE OF CASTING THE SAME IN
MOULDS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Hutchinson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 14th January 1881.
HENRY HUTCHINSON, of 34, Muschamp Road, East Dulwich, in the County of
Surrey. "IMPROVED METALLIC COMPOUNDS OR MIXTURES, AND MODE OF
CASTING THE SAME IN MOULDS."
t
The object of my Invention is to prepare by improved methods useful metallic
compounds or mixtures of any desired colour by the use or employment of sulphur
and other bodies or substances, such compounds or mixtures being suitable for
producing works of art and other objects.
I have discovered that a great variety of bodies or substances, when in an
impalpable powder, are capable of producing liquid compounds or mixtures when
added to molten sulphur, which solidify upon cooling to compounds or mixtures of
various colours, and that in most cases no definite chemical action takes place,
producing chemical compounds or mixtures, but simply mechanical compounds or
mixtures, which melt at the same temperature as sulphur. These substances or
bodies may be either natural or artificial.
The fabrication or production of the various compounds or mixtures is conducted
as follows:
1
I obtain chocolate coloured compounds or mixtures by the use of burnt iron or
low grade copper pyrites, known as "purple ore" of the vitriol makers.
I obtain red coloured compounds of different shades by the use of the natural
and artificial oxides of iron, such as the following:-Magnetic oxide of iron,
brown hæmatite, red hæmatite, specular iron ore, spathic iron ore, clay iron ore,
black band iron ore, or any red oxide of iron calcined or uncalcined; also by the
use of oxide of mercury, antimony, arsenic, and red chromate of barytes.
Yellow compounds or mixtures are obtained by using the yellow chromate of
barytes, chromates of zinc, cadmium, and oxide of cadmium.
31

page_text: Red compounds or mixtures are also obtained by a novel method, viz., by using
calcined clay or clay earths which have been mixed with oxides of iron, or a
solution of green copperas, or with cloride of iron, a waste product of galvanizing
or other works.
Blue compounds or mixtures are obtained by the use of ultramarine, blue glass 5
reduced to an impalpable powder, or blue slags containing ultramarine.
Green compounds or mixtures are obtained by the use of oxide of chromium or
any of the chrome greens; also by mixing any of the yellow compounds or
mixtures with any of the blue compounds or mixtures.
I also produce any of the secondary and tertiary colours by mixing any of the 1
aforesaid compounds or mixtures to obtain the required tints.
I also produce white and grey compounds or mixtures by the use of oxide of
zine, the oxy-sulphides of zinc, carbonate of zinc, silicate of zinc, sulphate of
barytes, carbonate of barytes, the carbonates of lime, such as chalk, whiting, china
clay, diatomous earth, dolomite, carbonate of magnesia, magnesia, milk white glass, 1
soap stone, steatite, or any of the poly-silicates of magnesia and lime, such as
pumice stone, gypsum, cements, and calcined flints, and aluminous shales, all reduced
to an impalpable powder.
I also produce black compounds or mixtures by novel means, viz., by using the
red and black oxides of copper, the carbonates and silicates of copper, either natural
or artificial; also slags resulting from the smelting of antimony, lead, and other
ores containing oxide of copper, antimony, or lead; also oxides, chlorides,
phosphates, carbonates, sulphates, or silicates of lead, such as red lead, litharge,
oxy-chloride of lead, or oxy-sulphate of lead. I also produce black compounds or
mixtures by using iron black, lamp black, black silicious slags containing oxide of
iron, antimony, lead, or copper, in an impalpable powder; also by the use of
proto-silicate of iron and other bases, such as basalt and olivine obsidium; also by
using black glass reduced to an impalpable powder.
I also produce by a novel method a special product of a bronzy blue with a
metallic lustre by acting upon metallic copper at a red heat with sulphur, grinding
the product to an impalpable powder, and again melting with sulphur. I also
produce the same coloured compound or mixture by reducing to an impalpable
powder the product known to the smelter as 'blue metal," consisting chiefly of
oxides of copper, metallic copper, and iron, and then melting with sulphur.
"
I also obtain by another novel method coloured compounds or mixtures of every
tint of colour by reducing to an impalpable powder coloured glass of any shade of
colour and then mixing with molten sulphur.
In producing any of the aforesaid compounds or mixtures I take any one or
more of the various substances or bodies and reduce it or them to an impalpable
powder and then mix it or them with molten sulphur.
The proportion of the sulphur to the various bodies or substances will vary from
about 20 per cent. to about 75 per cent, the bodies or substances of the greatest
specific gravity requiring the smallest amount of sulphur and those of the lightest
specific gravity requiring the greatest amount.
When moulds are made by the use of any of the aforesaid compounds or
mixtures I prefer to mix plumbago with the aforesaid compounds or mixtures to
prevent adhesion of the object cast in the mould.
For moulds of works of art slightly undercut I use carvers' and gilders! "compo."
This substance, being slightly elastic when warın, can be withdrawn from the
undercut objects and used again.
Another novelty of this Invention is an improved method of casting large works
of art, statuary, etc., in moulds of gelatine and other materials.
The
The difficulty hitherto experienced in the use of gelatine and other moulds of
large size is the production of perfect castings free from air-holes and seams.
plan usually adopted is to pour the liquid compounds into the mould by means of
buckets and ladles, a very uncertain method.
By the present Invention this uncertainty is removed by placing the melting

page_text: pan high above the moulds, so as to allow of the molten compound to run down an
inclined plane, spout, or pipe, from the bottom of the pan to the bottom of the
mould. The fluid mass thus drives out the air before it upwards, preventing
air-holes or seams; or, if more convenient, the fluid mass can be run in at the top
of the mould and down a pipe suspended in the centre of the inside of the mould,
and thus a continuous stream can be run into any mould.
By another method I affix a lid on the top of the melting pan, through which a
pipe of suitable size is passed to the bottom, and by a second pipe force air on to
the surface of the said molten compounds or mixtures. The liquid mass is thus
made to travel to any other part of the works by suitable pipes.
I also use a mechanical stirrer of any known construction to blend the sulphur
and the aforesaid substances instead of hand mixing. By this method the sulphur
is prevented overheating and catching fire.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Henry Hutchinson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th July
1881.
HENRY HUTCHINSON, of 34, Muschamp Road, East Dulwich, in the County of
Surrey. "IMPROVED METALLIC COMPOUNDS OR MIXTURES, AND MODE OF
CASTING THE SAME IN MOULDS."
The object of my Invention is to prepare by improved methods useful metallic
compounds or mixtures of any desired colour by the use or employment of sulphur
and other bodies or substances, such compounds or mixtures being suitable for
producing works of art and other objects.
I have discovered that a great variety of bodies or substances when in an
impalpable powder are capable of producing liquid compounds or mixtures when
added to molten sulphur, which solidify upon cooling to compounds or mixtures of
various colours, and that in most cases no definite chemical action takes place,
producing chemical compounds, but simply mechanical compounds or mixtures
which melt at the same temperature as sulphur. These substances or bodies may be
either natural or artificial.
Having found by enquiry since the granting of provisional protection for this
Invention dated 14th January 1881, that the public have already been in possession
of and using for years several of the substances named in the Provisional
Specification, such as all the varieties of coal, coke, charcoal, pottery cinders,
plumbago, lamp black, bone black, china and other clays, ashes, etc., mixed with
sulphur, I therefore wish to disclaim all or any of the aforesaid bodies and other
substances which are omitted in this the final Specification under their various
headings.
The fabrication or production of the various compounds or mixtures is conducted
as follows:
I obtain chocolate coloured compounds or mixtures by the use of burnt iron
pyrites known as purple ore of the vitriol makers. I find in practice that purple
ore requires a special method of treatment to be available for the object of this
Invention, I therefore wash the said burnt ore to remove soluble salts of the
sulphates of copper, iron, zinc, and other salts; I then dry the washed ore at a
suitable temperature to decompose any "hydrates" remaining in the ore. I then
mix it with molten sulphur in the proportion of about two of sulphur to three of
purple ore.
I obtain red coloured compounds of different shades by the use of oxide of
mercury, antimony, arsenic, and red chromate of barytes.
I also obtain red compounds by using clay and calcining the same with the
addition of purple ore prepared as aforesaid, or with solutions of copperas or
chloride of iron, being waste products of galvanizing and other works.
Yellow compounds or mixtures are obtained by using the yellow chromate of
barytes, chromates of zinc, cadmium, and oxide of cadmium.
Blue compounds are obtained by using blue slags or blue glass reduced to an
impalpable powder and mixing with molten sulphur in the proportion of about two
of sulphur to three of slag or glass.
Green compounds are obtained by the use of oxide of chromium or any of the
chrome greens; also by mixing any of the yellow compounds with any of the blue
compounds.
I also produce any of the secondary and tertiary colours by mixing any of the
aforesaid compounds to obtain the required tints.
I also produce white and grey compounds by the use of oxy-sulphides of zinc,

page_text: carbonate of zinc, diatomous earth, dolomite, carbonate of magnesia, milk white
glass, soap stone, or steatite, all reduced to an impalpable powder.
I
I also produce black compounds by a novel means, viz., by using the "black
slags" resulting from the smelting of antimony, lead, copper, and other ores.
also produce black compounds by using black siliceous slags, such as clinker dross
from gas works, etc., or from any source reduced to an impalpable powder, also by
the use of basalt and olivine and obsidium, and also black glass reduced to an
impalpable powder.
I also obtain by another novel method coloured compounds of every tint of
colour by reducing to an impalpable powder coloured glass of any shade of colour
and then mixing with molten sulphur.
In producing any of the aforesaid compounds or mixtures I take any one or
more of the various substances or bodies, and reduce it or them to an impalpable
powder and then mix it or them with molten sulphur.
.
The proportion of the sulphur to the various bodies or substances will vary
from about 20 per cent. to about 75 per cent more or less, the bodies or substances
of the greatest specific gravity requiring the smallest amount of sulphur, and those
of the lightest specific gravity requiring the greatest amount.
For moulds of works of art slightly undercut I use carvers' and gilders* "compo."
This substance being slightly elastic whem warm can be withdrawn from the
undercut objects and used again.
Another novelty of this Invention is an improved method of casting large works
of art, statuary, etc., in moulds of gelatine and other materials.
The difficulty hitherto experienced in the use of gelatine and other moulds of
large size is the production of perfect castings free from air-holes and seams. The
plan usually adopted is to pour the liquid compounds into the mould by means of
buckets and ladles, a very uncertain method.
By the present Invention this uncertainty is removed by placing the melting
pan high above the moulds, so as to allow the molten compound to run down an
inclined plane, spout, or pipe, from the bottom of the pan to the bottom of the
mould. The fluid mass thus drives out the air before it upwards, preventing air-holes
or seams; or, if more convenient, the fluid mass can be run in at the top of the
mould and down a pipe suspended in the centre of the inside of the mould, and
thus a continuous stream can be run into any mould.
By another method I affix a lid on the top of the melting pan, through which a
pipe of suitable size is passed to the bottom, and by a second pipe force air on to
the surface of the said molten compounds or mixtures. The liquid mass is thus
made to travel to any other part of the works by suitable pipes.
I also use a mechanical stirrer of any known construction to blend the sulphur
and the aforesaid substances instead of hand mixing. By this method the sulphur
is prevented overheating and catching fire.
Having now described the various substances to be used, I will state in detail
those I wish to specify as being commercially available and best adapted to
illustrate the object and claim of this Invention.
For instance, I manufacture compounds suitable for works of art, and as a sub-
stitute for lead and other materials in jointing gas, water, earthenware, and other
pipes in the following manner :-
I take any of the secondary waste products made in metallurgical, engineering,
and other works known under the technical name of "slags" and by other names
as clinker, scoria, and dross, having no definite fixed chemical composition, sucb,
for instance, iron, steel, and puddler's slags, copper slags, gold, silver, and silver-lead
slags, lead slags, antimony slags, tin slags, zinc slags; the various fuel slags known
as clinkers, dross, or scoria, separated by hand picking and sifting from "gas coke,"
engine ashes, and slags obtained from various works, and also slags resulting from
the combustion of town refuse; also volcanic scoria or volcanic slag.
I then reduce one or more of the aforesaid slags or clinkers to an impalpable
powder, and after drying at a temperature sufficient to decompose any hydrates

page_text: and enclosed moisture mix them with molten sulphur, and I find from practice that
2 parts sulphur to 3 parts of gas coke, furnace clinker, or slags, having about the
same specific gravity, and for the heaviest of slags, such as puddler's and copper
slags from to sulphur to and slags will produce a material well adapted for
pipe joints, but the proportion may be varied according to the consistency of the
mixtures required and for specified purposes.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein before
in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1st. The use of metallic substances other than "metallic sulphides," organic
bodies, or carbonized bodies mixed with molten sulphur, substantially as herein
described.
2nd. The use of slags, clinkers, scoria, and volcanic scoria or slags (raw or
calcined) reduced to an impalpable powder, dehydrated by heat and mixed with
molten sulphur.
3rd. The use and employment of the apparatus for casting large works of art,
statuary, etc., in moulds of gelatine and other materials, substantially as herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Hutchinson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
HENRY HUTCHINSON. (L.S.)