AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CAST STEEL"
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Mushet, of Coleford, in the County of
Gloucester, Metallurgist, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CAST STEEL"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Mushet at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st January 1861.
I, ROBERT MUSHET, of Coleford, in the County of Gloucester, Metallurgist,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT
OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CAST STEEL," to be as follows:-
In the Specification of Letters Patent granted to me, and bearing date the.
12th day of December 1860, I have described and claimed as of my Invention
the alloying of cast steel with titanium, by adding to the said cast steel in
the melting pot or crucible a metallic compound of titanium and iron contain-
ing also carbon, and which compound I have termed titanic pig metal and
melting the said cast steel and the said metallic compound of titanium and
iron containing also carbon together in the melting pot or crucible in order
thereby to improve the quality of the cast steel.
My present Invention consists in improving cast steel by adding to the said
cast steel in the melting pot or crucible granulated pig iron, cast iron, or refined
iron, mixed with pulverised titanium ore, or titanic acid, or oxide of titanium,
and melting the said cast steel and the said mixture of pulverised titanium ore
or titanic acid, or oxide of titanium and granulated pig iron, cast iron, or
refined iron together in a melting pot or crucible, or adding the said mixture

page_text: of granulated pig iron, cast iron, or refined iron and pulverised ticamuur one of
titanic acid or oxide of titanium to and melting it with any mixture of
materials which when melted produces cast steel. Instead of using titanium
in an oxidised state, the said titanium may be employed in a reduced or metallic
state as herein-after more fully explained.....
I wish it however to be distinctly understood that I do not claim the
manufacture of cast steel by adding iron ore or oxides of iron to pig iron,
cast iron, or refined iron, granulated by running the said iron when melted
into water, and melting these substances together in a melting pot or crucible,
and which process has, as I am aware, been already made the subject of
Letters Patent.
But
my Invention has for its object simply the alloying of the titanium or
a portion of the titanium contained in the ore of titanium which I employ with
cast steel, and which object is attained by mixing granular cast iron and
pulverised titanium ore such as ilmenite or iserine and melting the mixture
thus produced along with steel or steel-producing materials in a melting pot
or crucible placed in a suitable melting furnace. Under these circumstances
the carbon contained in the granular cast iron reduces the titanic acid or
oxide of titanium, or a portion of that acid or oxide contained in the pulverised
titanium ore mixed with the said granular cast iron, and the reduced
titanium becomes combined and alloyed with the steel operated upon or
produced in the process, and an excellent and economical alloying of titanium
with cast steel is thus effected, and which said alloying improves the steel and
is the sole object of my Invention.
The ores of titanium I prefer to employ for my process are iserine and
ilmenite, and which are also termed titaniferous iron ores, as these ores are found
in great abundance, can be cheaply procured, and afford excellent results but
nevertheless
other ores of titanium and titanic acid or oxide of titanium may
be used for my process. Iserine contains from eight to twelve per centum of
titanic acid, the residue being chiefly oxide of iron. Ilmenite contains from
twenty to fifty per centum of titanic acid, the residue being principally oxide
of iron.
I prepare the ores of titanium for my process by pulverising them so as to
pass through a sieve of from 1,600 to 4,900 meshes per square inch, observing
that the finer the said ores are pulverised the better are they adapted for my
purpose, but I do not confine myself to any specific degree of pulverization of
the said ores. I prefer to employ the purest ilmenites and iserines and
such as are free from or nearly free from impurities such as silica, phosphorous,
sulphurets of iron or copper, and gangue or veinstone, and which ores therefore

page_text: consist essentially of oxides of titanium and iron. The titaniun ores may be
crushed or stamped or ground under edge runners, or they may be pulverised
in any other convenient and economical manner, except when the said
titanium ores are found naturally existing in the state of fine metalliferous
sand, in which case they do not require to be pulverised, but are already fit
for my purpose. The titanium ore or iserine of New Zealand found at
Taranaki near the port of New Plymouth, is a titanium ore found in large
quantities and in the form of a fine metalliferous sand well suited for my
process.
I I prepare the pig iron, cast iron, or refined iron for my process by granu-
lating the said iron in any convenient manner, but the method I prefer to
employ is as follows:-I heat lamps or pieces of pig iron, cast iron, or refined
iron to a temperature short of their melting point, but sufficiently elevated to
cause the said lumps or pieces of pig iron, cast iron, or refined iron to become
soft, so that they can readily be crushed to pieces. I then place the lumps of
iron thus heated in a mortar, and I beat upon the said lumps of iron with heavy
pestles until the said lumps of iron are broken to pieces and granulated. The
granulated pig iron, cast iron, or refined iron thus prepared consists partly of
small lumps or knobs and partly of fine metallic grains. I prefer to pulverise
or granulate the pig iron, cast iron, or refined iron as finely as possible, for
the finer it is granulated the better it is suited for my process.
The pig iron, or cast iron, or refined iron which I prefer to employ is that
which is free or nearly free from impurities, such as sulphur, phosphorus, and
silica, and when cast iron smelted with charcoal fuel can be economically pro-
cured, I prefer to employ it in place of coke pig iron. Nevertheless, coke pig
or cast iron of good quality, when employed for my process, affords excellent
results. The pig iron, cast iron, or refined iron, when granulated as I have
described, is ready to be employed in my process.
To one pound of pulverised ilmenite or iserine I add from five to fifteen
pounds of the granulated pig iron or cast iron, or from ten to twenty-five pounds
of the granulated refined iron, and I mix the pulverised titanium ore and the
granulated iron thoroughly. I do not, however, confine myself to the relative
proportions of pulverised ore of titanium to granulated pig, cast, or refined iron
herein set down, for these may be varied without departing from the nature of
my Invention, but I have found in practice that these proportions afford
excellent results.
2
When pig iron or cast iron granulated is mixed with pulverised ilmenite or
iserine as herein described, I call the mixture No. 1; and when granulated:
refined iron is mixed with pulverised ilmenite or iserine in the manner I have.

page_text: herein described, I call the mixture No. 2; and these mixtures, namely, No. 1
and No. 2 are ready for use in my process.
When, in carrying my Invention into effect, I operate upon steel or upon
any mixtures of steel of various descriptions, I take the said steel or mixtures
of various steels when they are about to undergo the process of melting into
cast steel, and I treat them in the following manner:-When blister steel, bar
steel, scrap steel, puddled steel, or cast steel of any description cut or broken
up for the purpose of remelting, or any mixtures of the said varieties of steel
with each other, or with malleable iron, or with carbonaceous matter, or with
both malleable iron and carbonaceous matter in such proportions as to produce
when melted cast steel, are intended to be melted in a melting pot or crucible
placed in a suitable melting furnace and heated therein; in each case I intro-
duce into the melting pot or crucible a quantity of mixture No. 1 or of mixture
No. 2 along with the steel, or mixtures of steel with each other, or with mal-
leable iron, or with carbonaceous matter, or with both malleable iron and
carbonaceous matter, and I heat the said substances in the melting pot placed
in a suitable melting furnace until the mixture No. 1 or No. 2, as the case
may be, and the steel in the melting pot are melted and combined. I then
withdraw the melting pot from the furnace and pour the steel into an ingot
mould or other suitable mould.
When I carry my Invention into effect by operating upon any mixture of
materials which when melted together in a melting pot or crucible produce cast
steel, I proceed as follows:-When malleable iron, however manufactured, and
carbonaceous matter, such as charcoal or lampblack, are melted together in
such proportions as to produce cast steel; or when malleable iron and pig
iron, cast iron, or refined iron are melted together in such proportions as to
produce cast steel; or when deoxidised iron ores, or oxides of iron and car-
bonaceous matter, or deoxidised iron ores, or oxides of iron mixed with pig
iron, cast iron, or refined iron are melted together in such proportions as to
produce cast steel; or when granulated pig iron, cast iron, or refined iron, and
iron ore or oxide of iron are mixed and melted together in such proportions
as to produce cast steel; or when granulated pig iron, cast iron, or refined
iron and deoxidised iron ores, with or without admixture of scrap iron, scrap
steel, or carbonaceous matter, are mixed and melted together in such propor-
tions as to produce cast steel; then in every such case I add to the particular
mixture which is about to be melted in order to produce cast steel, a quantity
of either of the mixtures No. 1 or No. 2, and I introduce these steel-producing
materials and the mixture No. 1 or No. 2 into the melting pot or crucible,
and heat them therein until the said steel-producing materials and the parti-

page_text: cular mixture, whether No. 1 or No. 2 added to them, are melted and com-
bined; I then withdraw the melting pot from the furnace and pour the steel
obtained into an ingot mould or into any other suitable mould.
The quantity of the mixture No. 1 or of the mixture No. 2 which I add to
forty pounds of steel, or of any such mixture of materials as when melted pro-
duces cast steel, may be varied; but in practice I have found that from five
pounds to fifteen pounds of No. 1 mixture and from ten pounds to twenty-five
pounds of No. 2 mixture, when added to forty pounds of steel, or of any such
mixture of materials as when melted produce cast steel, afford very excellent
results; but I do not limit myself to these proportions, which may be varied
without departing from the nature of my Invention.
In order to point out more clearly the manner in which I operate, I now
proceed to set down the proportions of the materials employed, which in prac-
tice have given good results when introduced into the melting pot and heated
therein until melted.

page_text: Cast steel for millpicks and saw files or other purposes requiring a hard
quality of cast steel.
Charcoal pig iron, granulated
9 lbs.
Pulverized ilmenite
1 lb.
These well mixed and constituting of mixture No. 1
--
10 lbs.
-
44 lbs.
9 oz.
Good common Swedish bar iron
Charcoal
Black oxide of manganese mixed with No. 1, or added
separately
3 oz.
I might multiply examples, but the preceding will suffice to point out the
methods I pursue in carrying my process into effect. I wish it, however, to
be observed, that the hardness of the cast steel finally obtained at the termi-
nation of the melting operation may be regulated by increasing or diminishing
the quantity of carbonaceous matter added to the materials which are intended
to be melted in order to produce cast steel, and that the greater the relative
proportion of carbonaceous matter added to the steel or to the mixture or
mixtures of materials which when melted together produce cast steel, the
harder will be the cast steel finally obtained.
It is also to be observed, that in preparing the mixtures No. 1 and No. 2,
the greater the relative proportion of granulated pig or cast iron to the
pulverized ilmenite or iserine, or the greater the proportion of granulated
refined iron to the pulverized ilmenite or iserine, the more carbonaceous
matter will be contained in the mixture, whether the said mixture be No. 1
or No. 2, and these mixtures, when prepared with a large relative proportion
of granulated pig, cast, or refined iron to pulverized ore, will, when added to
a given weight of steel, and melted with it, render that steel harder than when
the same proportions of mixtures No. 1 and No. 2, containing a lesser pro-
portion of granulated pig, cast, or refined iron to ore, are added to an equal
weight of steel of similar quality.
pro-
In every instance the hardness of the steel produced can be regulated at
will, and increased or diminished either by increasing or diminishing the
portion of charcoal or other carbonaceous matter added to the steel, or by
increasing or diminishing the proportion of granulated pig iron, or cast iron,
or refined iron to pulverized ilmenite or iserine in the mixtures. No. 1 and
No. 2, berein-before-described.
I will now describe the method of carrying my Invention into effect, when
instead of titanium combined with oxygen I employ reduced or deoxidized

page_text: titanium ores or compounds, the said reduced or deoxidized titanium ores or
compounds containing titanium in a metallic or partially metallic state.
When ores of titanium such as ilmenite are subjected to the process of
deoxidization by heating them in contact with carbonaceous matter in closed
retorts or converting chambers, the said ores are when rich in titanic oxide not
usually wholly metallized and reduced, owing to the powerful affinity of
titanium for the oxygen with which it is combined. When these ores of
titanium, after being subjected to the process of deoxidization, are stamped or
crushed, they are found to consist of metallic granules and irregularly-shaped
pieces mixed with unreduced or partially reduced ore, and the latter, reduced
by the stamping or crushing to the state of fine magnetic dust, can be readily
separated from the metallic granules by means of sieves. This unreduced or
partially reduced titanium ore may be employed for mixing with granular
cast, pig, or refined iron in place of pulverized ilmenite or iserine in preparing
my mixtures No. 1 and No. 2, herein-before described.
When I carry my Invention into effect by adding to steel, or to any
mixture of materials which when melted in a melting pot or crucible produce
cast steel, a quantity of metallized deoxidized ilmenite, or other compound ore
of titanium and iron rich in titanium mixed with granulated cast, pig, or
refined iron, and melting the said. steel, or the said steel-producing materials,
together with the said mixture of metallized deoxidized ore and granular iron
in a melting pot or crucible, I proceed as follows:-
I prefer to granulate the pig, cast, or refined iron in the manner herein-before
described. I prepare the deoxidized ilmenite or titanium ore by crushing or
stamping it, and I then separate the metallic portion from the unreduced or
partially reduced portion of the titanium ore by riddling the stamped or
crushed deoxidized ore in a fine sieve of from 1,600 to 2,500 meshes per square
inch when the unreduced or partially reduced ore passes the meshes of the
sieve, and is separated from the metallic portion of the deoxidized ore, which
remains in the sieve in the state of granules and irregularly-shaped pieces of
metal. But I do not confine myself to the use of sieves of the particular
degree of fineness which I have specified herein. The metallic portion of the
deoxidized titanium ore thus prepared is fit for use in my process.
To every pound of the prepared metallic deoxidized ilmenite or titanium
ore I add from one to five pounds of granulated pig, cast, or refined iron, and
.I mix the said deoxidized metallized ore and the said granular iron. This
mixture, which I call mixture No. 3, is ready for use in my process. I do
not limit myself to the proportions of granular pig, cast, or refined iron and
metallic deoxidized ilmenite or titanium ore herein set down, for these pro

page_text: portions may be varied at pleasure without departing from the nature of my
Invention; but I have found in practice that these proportions produce good
results.
To every forty pounds of steel, or of any mixtures of steel-producing
materials which it is intended to melt into cast steel, I add from one pound to
five pounds of mixture No. 3, and I introduce the said steel or the said steel-
producing materials, together with the said mixture No. 3, into a melting pot
or crucible placed in a melting furnace, and I heat the said substances therein
until they are melted; I then withdraw the melting pot from the furnace,
and pour the cast steel into an ingot mould or into any other suitable mould.
1 do not confine myself to the relative proportions of the No. 8 mixture, which
I add to forty pounds of steel, or steel-producing materials which are intended
to be melted into cast steel, for the proportions may be varied at will without
departing from the nature of my Invention. My object in mixing granular
cast, pig, or refined iron with the metallic deoxidized ilmenite or titanium
ore is to facilitate the fusion of the said metallic deoxidized ilmenite, which is
of an extremely refractory nature, and the fusion of which is facilitated by
mixing it with granular cast iron; and I find in practice that the said
metallic deoxidized ilmenite, when thus mixed with granular cast or refined
iron, is more readily fused, mixed, and alloyed with the steel than when the
said metallic deoxidized ilmenite is employed without any mixture of granular
pig, cast, or refined iron.
Though I employ oxide of manganese as a flux, I do not claim the use of
this flux as any part of my Invention. The oxide of manganese may be
mixed with the granular pig, cast, or refined iron, or it may be introduced
separately into the melting pot; neither do I claim the granulation of pig
iron, cast or refined iron by the method I have herein-before described. The
melting pots or crucibles which I employ, and the melting furnaces in which
they are placed and heated, are such as are ordinarily employed by steel manu-
facturers.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which I prefer to carry my said Invention into effect, I declare that my
Invention consists, firstly, in adding in the melting pot or crucible, to steel or
to any mixture of materials which when melted produce cast steel, a mixture
of granulated pig iron, cast iron, or refined iron and pulverized titanium ore,
titaniferous iron ore, titanic acid, or oxide of titanium, and melting the said
cast steel or steel-producing materials, and the said mixture of granulated
pig, cast, or refined iron and pulverized titanium ore, acid, or oxide together
in the said melting pot or crucible in order to alloy the titanium or a portion

page_text: of the titanium contained in the said titanium ore, acid, or oxide with the
cast steel melted from the steel or mixtures of steel-producing materials
operated upon, so as to produce thereby an improved quality or qualities of
'cast steel.
My Invention consists, secondly, in adding to steel or any mixture of
materials which when melted produce cast steel, a mixture of granular pig,
cast, or refined iron, and metallized deoxidized ilmenite, or compound ore of
titanium and iron, and melting the said steel or the said steel-producing
materials and the said mixture of metallized deoxidized ilmenite, or com-
pound ore of titanium and iron and granular pig, cast, or refined iron
together in a melting pot or crucible, in order to improve the quality of the
cast steel obtained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters.Patent, filed
by the said Robert Mushet in the Great Seal Patent Ollice on the
20th July 1861.
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 Twenty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CAST STEEL,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert Mushet, 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.

page_text: 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:
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:―
2
In the Specification of Letters Patent granted to me, and bearing date
12th day of December 1860, I have described and claimed as of my Invention'
the alloying of cast steel with titanium, by adding to the said cast steel in the
melting pot or crucible a metallic compound of titanium and iron, containing
also carbon, and which compound I have termned titanic pig metal, and melting
the said cast steel and the said metallic compound of titanium and iron con-
taining also carbon together in a melting pot or crucible, in order thereby to
improve the quality of the cast steel produced.
My present Invention consists in improving cast steel by adding to the said
cast steel in the melting pot or crucible granulated pig iron, cast iron, or
refined iron, mixed with pulverized titanium ore or titanic acid, or oxide of
titanium, and melting the said cast steel and the said mixture of pulverized'
titanium ore, or titanic acid, or oxide of titanium and granulated pig iron, cast
iron, or refined iron together in a melting pot or crucible, or adding the said:
mixture of granulated pig iron, cast iron, or refined iron, and pulverized
titanium ore, or titanic acid, or oxide of titanium to and melting it with any
mixture of materials which when melted produces cast steel. Instead of
using titanium in an oxidised state the said titanium may be employed in a
reduced or metallic, state, as herein-after more fully explained. I wish it,
however, to be distinctly understood that I do not claim the manufacture of
cast steel by adding iron ore or oxides of iron to pig iron, cast iron, or refined
iron, granulated by running the said iron when melted into water, and melting:
these substances together in a melting pot or crucible, and which process has, as
I am aware, been already made the subject of Letters Patent. But my Inven-
tion has for its object simply the alloying of the titanium or a portion of the
titanium contained in the ore of titanium, which I employ with cast steel, and
which object is attained by mixing granular cast iron and pulverized titanium
ore, such as ilmenite or iserine, and melting the mixture thus produced along
with steel or steel-producing materials in a melting pot or crucible placed
in a melting furnace. When the mixture is melted the carbon contained
in the granular cast iron reduces or deoxidizes the titanic acid or oxide
of titanium, or a portion of that acid or oxide contained in the pulverized
titanium ore mixed with the said granular cast iron, and the reduced titanium
becomes combined and alloyed with the steel, operated upon or produced in
the process, and a convenient and economical alloying of titanium with cast:

page_text: steel is thus effected, and which said alloying improves the steel, and is the
sole object of my Invention.
The ores of titanium I prefer to employ for my process are iserine and
ilmenite, and which are also termed titaniferous iron ores, as these ores of
titanium' are found in great abundance, can be cheaply procured, and afford
excellent results; but other ores of titanium and titanic acid or oxide of
titanium may nevertheless be used for my process. Iserine contains from
eight to twelve per centum by weight of titanic acid, the residue being chiefly
oxide of iron. Ilmenite contains from twenty to fifty per centum by weight of
titanic acid, the residue being principally oxide of iron.
I prepare the ores of titanium for my process by pulverizing them to such a
degree that the powder produced will pass through a sieve of from 1,600 to:
4.900 meshes per square inch, observing that the finer the said ores are
pulverized the better are they adapted for my purpose, but I do not confine
myself to any specific degree of pulverization of the said ores. I prefer to
employ the purest ilmenites and iserines, and such as are free or nearly free
from impurities, such as silica, phosphorous, sulphurets of iron or copper, and-
gangue or veinstone, and which ores, therefore, consist essentially of oxides of
titanium and iron. The titanium ores may be crushed or stamped or ground
under edge runners, or they may be pulverized in any other convenient and
economical manner, except when the said titanium ores are found naturally
existing in the state of fine metalliferous sand, in which case they do not
require to be pulverized, but are already fit for my purpose. The titanium
ore or iserine of New Zealand found at Taranaki, near the port of New
Plymouth, is a titanium ore found in large quantities, and in the condition of
a fine metalliferous sand, well suited for my process. I prepare the pig iron,
cast iron, or refined iron for my process by granulating the said iron in any
convenient manner; but the method I prefer to employ is as follows:-I heat
lumps or pieces of pig iron, cast iron, or refined iron to a temperature
short of their melting point, but sufficiently elevated to cause the said lumps
or pieces of pig iron, cast iron, or refined iron to become soft and friable, so
that they can readily be crushed to pieces. I then place the lumps of iron
thus heated in a mortar, preferably of cast iron, and I beat upon the said
lumps of iron with heavy pestles, until the said lumps of iron are broken to
pieces and granulated. The granulated pig iron, cast iron, or refined iron
thus prepared consists partly of small lumps or knobs, and partly of fine
metallic grains. I prefer to pulverize or granulate the pig iron, cast iron, or
refined iron as finely as possible, for the finer it is granulated the better it is
suited for my process.

page_text: When well granulated by the method I have herein described, good grey
pig iron will be so far pulverised or comminuted that out of every three tons
of pig iron thus granulated two tons or thereabouts will pass through a riddle
of four meshes per square inch, and one ton, or thereabouts, in the state of
knobs or pieces will not pass through the said riddle. When refined cast iron
or very strong-bodied cast iron or pig iron is thus granulated, about one half of
the quantity operated upon will consist of knobs or pieces which will not pass
through a riddle of four meshes per square inch, and the remaining moiety of
the said iron will pass through the said riddle.
The pig iron or cast iron or refined iron which I prefer to employ is that
which is free or nearly free from impurities, such as sulphur, phosphorous, and
silicon, and when cast iron smelted with charcoal fuel can be economically
procured, I prefer to employ it in place of coke-made pig iron. Nevertheless,
coke-made pig or cast iron of good quality, when employed for my process,
affords excellent results. The pig iron, cast iron, or refined iron, when
granulated as I have described, is ready to be employed in my process.
:
To one pound of pulverized ilmenite or iserine I add from five to fifteen
pounds of the granulated pig iron or cast iron, or from ten to twenty-five
pounds of the granulated refined iron, and I mix the pulverized titanium ore
and the granulated iron thoroughly. I do not, however, confine myself to the
relative proportions of pulverized ore of titanium to granulated pig, cast,
or refined iron herein set down, for these proportions may be varied without
departing from the nature of my Invention, but I have found in practice that
these proportions afford excellent results. When pig iron or cast iron
granulated is mixed with pulverized ilmenite or iserine, as herein described, I
call the mixture No. 1, and when granulated refined iron is mixed with
pulverized ilmenite or iserine in the manner I have herein described, I call
the mixture No. 2, and these mixtures, namely, No. 1 and No. 2, are ready
for use in my process.
Titanic acid or oxide of titanium may be substituted for titanium ore in
either of the mixtures No. 1 and No. 2. When I employ either titanic acid
or oxide of titanium, the said acid or oxide may be employed in the same
proportions and in the same manner as described with reference to titanium
ore, excepting that as the said acid and oxide are separated from their natural
compounds in the form of an impalpable powder they do not require to be
pulverized.
When in carrying my Invention into effect I operate upon steel or upon
any mixtures of steel of various descriptions, I take the said steel or mixtures

page_text: I
of various steels when they are about to undergo the process of melting
into cast steel, and I treat them in the following manner :-When blister
steel, bar steel, scrap steel, puddled steel, or cast steel of any description,
cut or broken up for the purpose of remelting, or any mixtures of the said
varieties of steel with each other, or with malleable iron, or with carbonaceous
matter, or with both malleable iron and carbonaceous matter, in such
proportions as to produce, when melted, cast steel, are intended to be melted
in a melting pot or crucible placed in a suitable melting furnace and heated
therein, in each case I introduce into the melting pot or crucible a quantity
of mixture No. 1 or of mixture No. 2, along with the steel or mixtures of steel
with each other, or with malleable iron, or with carbonaceous matter, or with
both malleable iron and carbonaceous matter, and I heat the said substances
in the melting pot placed in a suitable melting furnace until the mixture
No. 1 or No. 2, as the case may be, and the steel in the melting pot are melted
and combined. I then withdraw the melting pot from the furnace and pour
the steel into an ingot mould or other suitable mould.
When I carry my Invention into effect by operating upon any mixture
of materials which when melted together in a melting pot or crucible produces
cast stoel, I proceed as follows:-When malleable iron however manufactured
and carbonaceous matter, such as charcoal or lampblack, are melted together
in such proportions as to produce cast steel; or when malleable iron and
pig iron, cast iron, or refined iron are melted together in such proportions
as to produce cast steel; or when deoxidised iron ores, or oxides of iron
and carbonaceous matter, or deoxidised iron ores, or oxides of iron mixed
with pig iron, cast iron, or refined iron are melted together in such proportions
as to produce cast steel; or when granulated pig iron, cast iron, or refined
iron, and iron ore; or oxide of iron are mixed and melted together in such
proportions as to produce cast steel, or when granulated pig iron, cast iron,
or refined iron, and deoxidized iron ores, with or without admixture of
scrap iron, scrap steel, or carbonaceous matter, are mixed and melted together
in such proportions as to produce cast steel; then in every such case I add
to the particular mixture, which is about to be melted, in order to produce
cast steel a quantity of either of the mixtures No. 1 or No. 2, and I introduce
these steel-producing materials and the mixture No. 1 or No. 2, as the
case may be, into the melting pot or crucible and beat them therein until
the said steel-producing materials and the particular mixture, whether No. 1
or No. 2, added to them are melted and combined; I then withdraw the
melting pot from the furnace and pour the steel obtained into an ingot

page_text: mould or into any other suitable mould. The quantity of the mixture
No. 1 or of the mixture No. 2 which I add to forty pounds of steel, or of
any such mixture of materials as when melted produces cast steel, may be
varied; but in practice I have found that from five pounds to fifteen pounds
of No. 1 mixture, and from ten pounds to twenty-five pounds of No. 2
mixture, when added to forty pounds of steel, or of any such mixture of
materials as when melted produces cast steel, afford very excellent results;
but I do not limit myself to these proportions, which may be varied without
departing from the nature of my Invention.
In order to point out more clearly the manner in which I operate, I now
proceed to set down some of the proportions of the various materials employed,
which in practice have given good results when introduced into the melting
not and heated.therein until melted.
>

page_text: Granulated coke pig iron of best quality, preferably
hematite pig iron smelted from the red iron ores
of Cumberland and Lancashire
Pulverized ilmenite
- 22 lbs.
-
8 lbs.
These well mixed, and constituting of mixture No. 1
Good English puddled steel
Oxide of manganese mixed with No. 1, or added separately
-
25 lbs.
22 lbs.
4 oz.
I might multiply examples, but the preceding will suffice to point out the
methods I pursue in carrying my process into effect. I wish it, however, to
e observed, that the hardness of the cast steel finally obtained at the
ermination of the melting operation may be regulated by increasing or
iminishing the quantity of carbonaceous matter added to the materials which
re intended to be melted in order to produce cast steel, and that the greater
be relative proportion of carbonaceous matter added to the steel, or to the
ixture or mixtures of materials which when melted together produce cast
teel, the harder will be the cast steel finally obtained. It is also to be
bserved that in preparing the mixturés No. 1 and No. 2, the greater the
elative proportion of granulated pig or cast iron to the pulverised ilmenite or
serine, or the greater the proportion of granulated refined iron to the
ulverized ilmenite or iserine, the more carbonaceous matter will be contained
a the mixture, whether the said mixture be No. 1 or No. 2, and these
ixtures when prepared with a large relative proportion of granulated pig,
ast, or refined iron to pulverized, titanium ore, will, when added to a given-
reight of steel, and melted with it, render that steel harder than when the
ame proportions of mixtures No. 1 and No. 2 containing a lesser proportion
B

page_text: of granulated pig, cast, or refined iron to pulverised titanium ore are added
to an equal weight of steel of similar quality. In every instance the hardness
of the steel produced can be regulated at will, and increased or diminished
either by increasing or diminishing the proportion of charcoal or other car-
bonaceous matter added to the steel, or by increasing or diminishing the 5
proportion of granulated pig iron, or cast iron, or refined iron to pulverised
ilmenite or iserine in the mixtures No. 1 and No. 2, herein-before described.
The proportion of oxide of manganese employed in the examples which I
have herein-before set down may be varied at the will of the operator, and
according to circumstances, the effect of the oxide of manganese being to 1
toughen the steel and render it less liable to crack when heated and hammered
or rolled into bars than such steel would be without the addition of oxide of
manganese. I have, however, found that the proportions of manganese oxide
I have herein-before set down in the examples afford good results.
I will now describe the method of carrying my Invention into effect, when 1
instead of titanium combined with oxygen I employ reduced or deoxidised
titanium ores or compounds, the said reduced or deoxidised titanium ores or
compounds containing titanium in a metallic or partially metallic state.
When ores of titanium, such as ilmenite, are subjected to the process of
deoxidisation by beating them in contact with carbonaceous matter in closed 2
retorts or converting chambers, the said ores are when rich in titanic acid not
usually wholly metallized and reduced, owing to the powerful affinity of
When these ores of
titanium for the oxygen with which it is combined.
titanium, after being subjected to the process of deoxidisation, are stamped or
crushed, they are found to consist of metallic granules and irregularly-shaped 2
pieces, mixed with unreduced or partially reduced ore, and the latter, reduced
by the stamping or crushing to the state of fine magnetic dust, can be readily
separated from the metallic granules by means of sieves. This unreduced or
partially reduced titanium ore may be employed for mixing with granular cast,
pig, or refined iron in place of pulverized ilmenite or iserine, and in a 3
similar manner in preparing my mixtures No. 1 and No. 2, herein-before
described.
When I carry my Invention into effect by adding to steel, or to any mixture
of materials which when melted in a melting pot or crucible produces cast
steel, a quantity of metallized deoxidised ilmenite or other deoxidised com- s
pound ore of titanium and iron rich in titanium, mixed with granulated cast,
pig, or refined iron, and melting the said steel, or the said steel-producing
materials together with the said mixture of metallized deoxidised ore and
granular iron in a melting pot or crucible, I proceed as follows:-I prefer to

page_text: granulate the pig, cast, or refined iron in the manner herein-before described
I prepare the deoxidised ilmenite or titanium ore by crushing or stamping it..
and I then separate the metallic portion from the unreduced or partially
reduced portion of the titanium ore, by riddling the stamped. or crushed
deoxidised ore in a fine sieve of from 1,600 to 2,500 meshes per square inch,.
when the unreduced or partially reduced titanium ore passes the meshes of
the sieve, and is separated from the metallic portion of the deoxidised ore
which remains in the sieve in the state of granules and irregularly shaped.
pieces of metal. But I do not confine myself to the use of sieves of the
particular degree of fineness which I have specified herein. The metallic
portion of the deoxidised titanium ore thus prepared is fit for use in my
process.
To every pound of the prepared metallic deoxidised ilmenite or titanium ore.
I add from one to five pounds of granulated pig, cast, or refined iron, and I
mix the said deoxidised metallized ore and the said granular iron. This mixture,.
which I call mixture No. 3, is ready for use in my process.
. I do not limit myself to the proportions of granular pig, cast, or refined.
iron and metallic deoxidised ilmenite or titanium ore herein set down, for these
proportions may be varied at pleasure without departing from the nature of
my Invention; but I have found in practice that these proportions produce
good results. To every forty pounds of steel or of any mixture of steel-producing.
materials which it is intended to melt into cast steel, I add from one pound to five
pounds of mixture No. 3, and I introduce the said steel or the said steel-producing
materials, together with the said mixture No. 3, into a melting pot or crucible
placed in a melting furnace, and I heat the said substances therein until they
are melted; I then withdraw the melting pot from the furnace, and pour the
cast steel into an ingot mould, or into any other suitable mould. I do not
confine myself to the relative proportions of the No. 3 mixture, which I add
to forty pounds of steel or steel-producing materials, which are intended to be
melted into cast steel, for the proportions may be varied at will without
departing from the nature of my Invention.
My object in mixing granular cast, pig, or refined iron with the metallio
deoxidised ilmenite or titanium ore is to facilitate the fusion of the said
metallic deoxidised ilmenite, which is of an extremely refractory nature, and
the fusion of which is facilitated by mixing it with granular cast iron, and I
find in practice that the said metallic deoxidised ilmenite, when thus mixed
with granular, cast, or refined iron, is more readily fused, mixed, and alloyed
with the steel than when the said metallic deoxidised ilmenite is employed
without any mixture of granular pig, cast, or refined iron. Though 1 employ

page_text: oxide of manganese as a flux, I do not claim the use of this flux as any part.
of my Invention. The oxide of manganese may be mixed with the granular
pig, cast, or refined iron, or it may be introduced separately into the melting
pot, but I have usually found it advantageous to mix the oxide of manganese
with the said granular pig, cast, or refined iron. Neither do I claim the
granulation of pig iron, cast or refined iron by the method I have herein-
before described.
When the pig iron, cast iron, or refined iron, as the case may be, has been
prepared by granulating it. in the manner herein-before described, I find it
convenient, before weighing the said granulated iron, to separate the knobs or
larger pieces of iron from the smaller pieces and the metallic dust or powder
of which it consists. This is readily effected by riddling the granulated iron,
and I usually employ a riddle of four meshes per square inch for this purpose.
When thus riddled and separated into two kinds, one of which passes the
meshes of the riddle, whilst the other kind does not pass through the meshes,
I call the former kind "fine iron," and the latter kind "rough iron;" and in
weighing up the requisite quantities of the mixtures of granular pig, cast, or
refined iron with titanium ore, titanic acid, or oxide or deoxidised titanium
ore, and which mixtures I have herein-before designated as No. 1, No. 2, and
No. 3, I prefer to use a fair proportion of "fine iron" to "rough iron."
Thus, if the granulated pig iron consists of two parts of "fine iron" to one
part of "rough iron," for every three pounds of granulated iron weighed up, I
take two pounds of "fine iron" and one pound of "rough iron;" or if the
granulated refined iron consists of equal parts of "fine iron" and "rough
iron," then in weighing up the quantity of granulated refined iron required I
take equal parts of "fine iron" and of rough iron." I thus secure a due or
just proportion of "fine" and "rough iron" in every instance, and this is of
advantage, inasmuch as it promotes uniformity of quality in the cast steel,
produced by my process.
The melting pots or crucibles which I employ, and the melting furnaces in
which they are placed and heated, are such as are ordinarily employed by
steel manufacturers.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which I prefer to carry my said Invention into effect, I declare that my
Invention consists,―
Firstly, in adding to steel, or to any mixture of materials which when melted
produces cast steel, a mixture of granulated pig iron, cast iron, or refined iron,
and pulverised titanium ore, titaniferous iron ore, titanic acid, or oxide of
titanium, and melting the said steel or steel-producing materials and the said

page_text: mixture of granulated pig, cast, or refined iron, and pulverised titanium ore,
acid, or oxide, together in the said melting pot or crucible, in order to alloy,
the titanium or a portion of the titanium contained in the said titanium ore,
acid, or oxide with the cast steel melted from the steel or from the mixture of
steel-producing materials operated upon, so as to produce thereby an improved
quality or qualities of cast steel.
My Invention consists, secondly, in adding to steel, or to any mixture of
materials which when melted produce cast steel, a mixture of granular pig,
cast, or refined iron and metallized deoxidized ilmenite or compound ore of
titanium and iron, and melting the said steel or the said steel-producing
materials, and the said mixture of metallized deoxidized ilmenite or compound
ore of titanium and iron, and granular pig, cast, or refined iron together in a
melting pot or crucible, in order to improve the quality of the cast steel
obtained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Mushet, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.'
Witnesses,
EDW. M. MUSHET,
Coleford, Gloucestershire.
BROOKLYN MUSHET,
Coleford, Gloucestershire.
ROB. MUSHET. (L.B.)