CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SIZING, GLAZING, OR BEAUTIFYING THE MATERIALS EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, PASTEBOARD, BRISTOL BOARDS AND SUBSTANCES
Year: 1827

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GABRIEL
DE SORAS, of Liecester Square, in the County of Middlesex, STACEY WISE
and CHARLES WISE, of Maidstone, in the County of Kent, Paper Makers,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth
did, by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing
date at Westminster, the Twenty-first day of August, in the eighth year of
His reign, give and grant unto us, the said Gabriel De Soras, Stacey Wise,
and Charles Wise, His especial licence, that we, the said Gabriel De Soras,
Stacey Wise, and Charles Wise, our exors, admors, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said Gabriel-De Soras, Stacey Wise, and Charles Wise, our
exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein men-
tioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Invention,
communicated to us by a certain Foreigner residing abroad, of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN SIZING, GLAZING, OR BEAUTIFYING THE MATERIALS EMPLOYED
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, PASTEBOARD, BRISTOL BOARDS, AND
SUBSTANCES;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that
we, the said Gabriel De Soras, Stacey Wise, and Charles Wise, or one of
us, shall cause a particular description of the nature of our said Invention,.
•
.

page_text: and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by
the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Gabriel De Soras, Stacey Wise, and Charles Wise, do hereby declare that the
nature of our said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, is described and ascertained as follows (that is to say) :-
We take a clean alkaline ley, prepared in the usual way, namely, by mixing
together fresh well burnt quick-lime, fixed alkaline salt, and water, and
drawing off the clear liquor. The alkaline salts that we prepare for this
purpose are potash or pearl ash, or subcarbonate of soda, as being more
free from colouring matter and other impurities than the other alkaline
salts that are usually brought to market. The vessel in which we make the
ley is made of deal, or other white wood, in order that the ley may be as
little as possible tinged with colour. The strength of alkaline ley is sufficiently
indicated for the purpose of our Invention by its specific gravity, and that
which we prefer is of the specific gravity of one hundred and four, the specific
gravity of pure water being reckoned as one hundred of the ley herein-before
mentioned. We take as much as will fill a clean copper about one third
full, and to every pound of ley put into the copper we add a pound of white or
bleached beeswax. The copper is heated by a fire or by steam, and we
prefer steam. As the ley gets hot and the wax melts, the two are incorporated
together by frequent stirring. If, after boiling for about three hours, any of
the wax appears not to have combined with the alkali, a little more ley is
to be poured in from time to time, till a more perfect union of the wax and
ley has taken place. The fact of all the wax not having combined with the
alkali will be ascertained when the mixture is cold, by its not being found
to consist of one uniform substance throughout, but little experience will
very soon enable the person mixing it to ascertain whether the "combination
is perfect or not, by the appearance and feel of the liquor, without it being
necessary to let it get cold first. To the solution of wax we add boiling hot water
(either soft water, or hard water which has been rendered soft by means of a little
alkaline ley), in the proportion of about four gallons of water for every pound
of wax previously put into the copper. We also take for every pound of such
wax four or four and a half pounds of potato flour, which we stir up with a
gallon of warm water, and then pour it into the boiling hot compound herein-
before described. We stir the whole well together, and it almost immediately
becomes a fine paste or size, which we find will generally keep good for

page_text: ten or fifteen days in summer. Common starch, or potatoe starch, which is
very nearly the same thing as the potatoe flour above mentioned, would answer
the purpose equally well, or nearly so, but we use the potatoe flour as being
much cheaper, and it is made in the following manner. We take any suitable
quantity of potatoes, and having carefully washed them, we reduce them to a
fine pulp by grinding or grating them in a mill. We prefer the latter method
as being the most expeditious, and for this purpose we employ a mill such as
is commonly used for grinding or bruising apples, but the operation may be
very conveniently performed under edge stones. The potatoes being thus
reduced to a fine pulp we next proceed to separate the flour from the fibrous
part of the pulp or any gritty matter as follows:-We put the pulp into a
clean tub, and add to it a large quantity of clean water, stirring the whole
well together. We allow the whole to stand undisturbed for two or three
hours, or until we find the greatest part of the pulp has subsided to the
bottom, and then we pour, off as much of the water as we can without wasting
any of the pulp at the bottom of the tub. We now put a quantity of the
pulp into a wire sieve or strainer, and pour upon it successive quantities of
water, whilst at the same time the pulp and water in the sieve are well stirred
together, until the last portion of water which is added shall pass through the
sieve as clear and colourless as it was before being put in. The fibrous matter
remaining in the sieve is thrown away, and the same process is repeated till
the whole of the pulp has been thus strained through the sieve. We collect
the water and the potatoe flour, which pass through the sieve together, in
another clean tub or vessel provided for its reception. We allow the contents
of this tub also to stand for some hours undisturbed, or until we perceive that
the potatoe flour has subsided to the bottom of the tub, and we then pour off
the water. This first water is always more or less turbid or coloured, and
after its removal we again fill the tub with clear water, taking care to stir
again the potatoe flour and water well together, and the contents of the tub
are again allowed to stand until the flour has completely subsided. The water
is again poured off, and this process of adding repeatedly fresh quantities of
water to the flour, and allowing it to subside, we continue until we perceive
that the last quantity of water remains quite clear and colourless; and we
lastly pass the potatoe flour and the clear water together through a fine sieve,
made of silk, wire, or other fit substance, in order to separate the fibrous
or gritty particles which, along with the flour, may have passed through the
wire strainer, and allowing the flour to subside the water is poured from it
and the flour is ready for use. From eight to ten pounds of potatoe will
produce about one pound of flour. The size thus made is to be used in the

page_text: same manner as other compositions or substances are used by paper makers
for sizing in the engine, that is, by adding it to the rags or other materials
employed. in the manufacture of paper, after the said rags or materials have
been reduced to a pulp, and whilst the said pulp yet remains in the engine,
but after the washing has been discontinued. The proportion between the
quantity of size and the quantity of material to be sized varies with the quality
or texture of the materials used (that is to say), if the pulp has been prepared
from a coarse rag, or other coarse material, we add to an engine full of pulp,
which has been prepared from one hundred and twenty pounds of such
rag, as much of the said size as contains three pounds of wax. The
pulp prepared from the finest rags will require a quantity of size containing
from four to five pounds of wax for one hundred and twenty pounds of rags,
and in proportion to the fineness or coarseness of the rags, we find it also
advantageous to increase or diminish the quantity of potatoe flour in the size,
using the above-mentioned proportion of four pounds for every one pound of wax
when the size is intended for fine rags, and five pounds when it is intended
for coarse rags. When the size and pulp have been well mixed in the engine,
we add to the pulp'a quantity of alum, by weight equal to that of the wax
in the size employed. The alum may be added either in a fine powder or
in a state of solution in water, we prefer the solution, and must be intimately
mixed with the pulp. It is necessary for us here to explain that, wherever we
have herein-before directed any given number of pounds weight of potatoe
flour to be added to the size, we mean so much of the said flour when dry,
but it may be taken when wet, and in the state in which it is found at the
bottom of the vessel. After the water has been poured from it is found to
consist of seventy parts of flour and thirty parts of water. We have also
to observe that as the water employed for washing the rags, and with which
they remain mixed after being reduced to a pulp, will be found to vary
in its degrees of hardness or softness, we have found it necessary when hard
water is used to increase the quantity of alum to nearly twice the quantity
which is herein-before mentioned, and in this case we find it advantageous to
put the alum into the pulp first, and afterwards the size. In every instance
the quantity of alum proper to be used will be found to vary between the
quantity first above mentioned and double that quantity, according to the
hardness or softness of the water used with the rags, and the exact proportion
of alum which it will be proper to use can only be determined by experiment.
What we have above described is the whole of the process by which we size
the materials employed in the manufacture of paper and other substances, and
the same process also to a considerable extent glazes or beautifies the materials

page_text: employed in the manufacture of paper, pasteboard, Bristol board, and other
substances, but we find it advantageous to use the following methods (that is
to say) The felts employed in. couching the paper: are first: soaked (or in
case of machine felt, well wetted, for a quarter of an hour in or with hot
water in which a little soda has been dissolved, and this wetting or soaking is
repeated every other day, or as often as the felts require washing. When
soaked they are then beat and rinsed in the usual manner, taking care that
no soap is employed in this process. Whenever the paper. is ready to be dried
the sooner it is hung up the better, and it is of advantage to expose it freely
to the air, by hanging two or not more than three sheets together. When
the paper has been dried we finish it in the following manner :-We take a
suitable quantity of unsized wrappers, or of felts, and soak them in water in
which a little alum has been dissolved; we then press them, and place between
every two wrappers or felts from six to ten sheets of paper, according to its
thickness. In this position we allow the paper to remain till every sheet has
become slightly and uniformly damp; we then remove the paper from the
wrappers or felts, and then alternately press and part it till a smooth and
glassy surface is obtained. This will generally happen after twice pressing
and parting if the paper shall have been previously parted in the packs,
but if not the pressing and parting must be repeated three or four times.
When the proper effect has been thus produced, the paper is to be finally dried.
We do not claim as an original Invention the soaking, heating, and rinsing
the felts in the manner herein-before described, nor the damping, pressing, and
parting the paper in the manner herein-before described; we only mention
these methods as proper and advantageous to be used in addition to the use of
the composition or ingredients herein-before mentioned. All that we claim as
our Invention is, the use of a size made of or resulting from a combination of
beeswax, caustic alkaline ley, alum, and potatoe flour or starch, by which
the materials employed in the manufacture of paper, pasteboard, Bristol board,
and other substances, are sized, glazed, or beautified whilst in the progress of
manufacture, and the paper itself, or other substance, when manufactured, is
found (with the use of the other methods herein-before described for that
purpose) to be well and sufficiently sized, and to have a more beautiful or
glossy surface than it otherwise would.
In witness whereof, I, the said Stacey Wise, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight.
STACEY (L.S.) WISE.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-first day of February,..
in the year of our Lord 1828, the aforesaid Stacey Wise came before.
our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in
form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped accord-
ing to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-first day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight.