IMPROVED PROCESSES FOR PLATING IRON, STEEL, AND OTHER METALS WITH NICKEL
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVED PROCESSES FOR PLATING IRON, STEEL, AND
OTHER METALS WITH NICKEL."-A communication from abroad by
Henry Tudor Brownell, of Hartford, Connecticut, United States of
America, Gentleman.
Sealed the 19th August 1873, and dated the 2nd July 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 2nd July 1873.-
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
-Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED PROCESSES FOR PLATING
IRON, STEEL, AND OTHER. METALS WITH NICKEL," a communication, to be as
follows:

page_text: so that the nickel would crack and peel-off, especially when the metal
was bent or worked after being plated. By these improved processes a
perfect union and adhesion of the two metals is secured so that they
can be bent, worked, or even drawn out into tubes or wire without
injuring or abrading the plated surface.
In practising the said Invention I apply nickel to the iron, steel,
copper, brass, or other metal, either by electro-plating or any other of
the ordinary methods of covering metals with a thin film of nickel, and
then subject the metal so plated to a temperature of from 480° to 700°
Fahrenheit, according to the quality or texture of the metal plated. It
may be done by a dry heat in a furnace or oven, or by immersing the metal
in an oil bath of the above temperature. A much greater heat than
that above named will crack and injure the plating if applied at first,
but after heating as above and allowed to cool a greater heat does not
injure the surface. The nickel plating may also be fixed and incorporated
with the surface of the iron or other metal in the following manner :—
The metal is first heated in water at or near the boiling point to expand
the metal and open the pores, and is then immersed in the plating fluid
heated to the same temperature, and the nickel is deposited upon the
surface in the usual manner. The metal is then allowed to cool, when
the plating becomes firmly attached and incorporated with the surface
of the metal plated.
After applying the nickel to the surface of a metal in the manner
above described it may be rolled into thin plates, or discs may be cut
out from from plates and drawn or spun into cartridge tubes in the
usual manner, the two metals remaining permanently attached to each
other, no matter how thin the plate may be worked.
The covering of copper and brass cartridge cases with nickel is a
very important part of my Invention; this has not heretofore been
successfully done with the ordinary processes, only about one case in
ten would be perfectly covered after being drawn or spun in the usual
manner.
The said Invention is also applicable to the plating of steam boilers
with nickel to prevent incrustation or oxidation. A plating of nickel
can be fixed upon the metal of the boiler which will entirely cover.its
surface and cannot be detached from it.

page_text: Another important application of my Invention is the covering of
military weapons, fire-arms, swords, and scabbards that are exposed to
the weather and liable to become oxidated.
The said Invention is also applicable to coating wire and wire ropes
for the standing rigging of ships, telegraph wires, and the like. The
said wires can be twisted or bent without impairing the continuity of the
plating.
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 31st December 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh 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, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVED
PROCESSES FOR PLATING IRON, STEEL, AND OTHER METALS WITH NICKEL," a
communication to me from abroad by Henry Tudor Brownell, of
Hartford, Connecticut, United States of America, Gentleman, 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...

page_text: 1 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:-
By the processes heretofore employed in plating iron, steel, and other
metals with nickel there has been an imperfect union of the two metals,
so that the nickel would crack and peel off, especially when the metal
was bent or worked after being plated. By these improved processes a
perfect union and adhesion of the two metals is secured, so that they
can be bent, worked, or even drawn out into tubes or wire without
injuring or abrading the plated surface.
In practising the said Invention I apply nickel to the iron, steel,
copper, brass, or other metal, either by electro-plating or any other of
the ordinary.nethods of covering metals with a thin film of nickel, and
then subject the metal so plated to a temperature of from 480° to 700°
Fahrenheit, according to the quality or texture of the metal plated. This
firmly unites and incorporates the two metals. It may be done by a dry
heat in a furnace or oven or by immersing the metals in an oil bath of the
above temperature. The effect in either case is to cause the nickel to
enter the pores of the iron or other metal in such a manner that it
cannot be separated from it, becoming one uniform mass, which can be
drawn or worked like a single metal without danger or possibility of
disintegration. A much greater heat than that above named will crack
and injure the plating if applied at first; but after heating as above
and allowed to cool, a greater heat does not injure the surface. The
nickel plating may also be fixed and incorporated with the surface of
the iron or other metal in the following manner :-The metal is first
heated in water at or near the boiling point to expand the metal and
open the pores, and is then immersed in the plating fluid heated to
the same temperature and the nickel is deposited upon the surface in the
usual manner. The metal is then allowed to cool when the plating
becomes firmly attached to and incorporated with the surface of the metal
plated.
•
After applying the nickel to the surface of a metal in the
manner above described, it may be rolled into thin plates, or discs may be
cut out from plates and drawn or spun into cartridge tubes in the usual
manner, as when made of copper or brass alone, and may be subjected

page_text: to the ordinary annealing processes without injury, the two. metals
remaining permanently attached to each other no matter how thin the
plate may be worked.
.The covering of copper and brass cartridge cases with nickel is a very
important part of my Invention. This has not heretofore been successfully.
done. With the ordinary processes only about one case in ten would be.
perfectly covered after being drawn or spun in the usual manner. For
this reason nickel plated cartridge cases have never been made as an
article of trade. By this Invention every one can be perfectly plated
so as to insure entire continuity of the nickel surface. The corrosion
of the copper or brass and consequent injury to the powder and ful-.
minate is thus wholly prevented.
The said Invention is also applicable to the plating of steam boilers
with nickel to prevent incrustation or oxidation. Owing to the sudden
and great changes of temperature to which steam boilers are subjected it
has heretofore been impracticable to cover their interior surfaces with a
perfect coating of nickel plating which would remain intact under the
expansion and contraction to which the iron is subjected. By means of
my Invention the perfect covering or lining of a boiler with an un-
oxidizable metal becomes practicable. A plating of nickel can be fixed
upon the metal of the boiler which will entirely cover its surface and
cannot be detached from it.
Another important application of my Invention is the covering of
military weapons, fire-arms, swords, and scabbards that are exposed to
the weather and liable to become oxidized. The said Invention is also
applicable to coating wire and wire ropes for the standing rigging of
ships, telegraph wires, and the like. The said wires can be twisted or
bent without impairing the continuity of the plating.
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 claim,-
First. The method of fixing nickel plating upon the surface of another
metal and incorporating it with the same by means of heat applied after
the plating is put on, as herein described.
Second. Heating the metal to near the boiling point of water, and then
immersing it in a plating solution at nearly the same temperature, as
herein described.

page_text: Third. The application of the improved method of nickel plating to
cartridge cases which are drawn or spun into their proper form after
being plated, as herein specified.
Fourth. The application of the improved method of nickel plating to
the interior of steam boilers for the prevention of incrustation and
oxidation, as herein specified.
Fifth. The application of the improved method of nickel plating to
fire-arms, swords, and scabbards, as herein specified.
Sixth. The application of the improved method of nickel plating to
covering wire and wire rope, as herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
Witness,
HENRY J. NOONE,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.
W*. ROB. LAKE. (L.S.)