IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRESERVATION OF STONE, PLASTER, CEMENT AND OTHER LIKE MATTERS, THE INVENTION BEING LIKEWISE APPLICABLE TO THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL STONE AND TO THE FIXATION AND PRODUCTION OF COLOURS ON AND IN THE BODY OF STONE, PLASTER, OR CEMENT
Year: 1862

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Kirby Sullivan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st May 1862.
I, WILLIAM KIRBY SULLIVAN, of Upper Leeson Street, in the Township
of Rathmines, County of Dublin, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRESERVATION OF STONE, PLASTER,
CEMENT AND OTHER LIKE MATTERS, THE INVENTION BEING LIKEWISE APPLICABLE
TO THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL STONE AND TO THE FIXATION AND
PRODUCTION OF COLOURS ON AND IN THE BODY OF STONE, PLASTER, OR CEMENT," to
be as follows:-
The chief object of this Invention is to impregnate stone, cement, or
plaster with chemical substances that will render the same impervious to,
or capable of resisting the effect of damp; to this end I apply fluo-silicate
of magnesia, fluo-silicate of zinc, or other soluble fluo-silicate to the stone,
plaster, or cement, and then decompose the same by the application of
a solution of an aluminate of potash or soda, or silicate of potash or soda,
or both successively, or by a silicate of alumina dissolved in an alkaline
solution. I apply the solutions by means of a brush, syringe, or hose
in the case of buildings, or where practicable by immersion. In general
I prefer the stone or plaster to be damp, and in order to make it so I

page_text: prefer applying a weak solution of silicate of potash instead of water
merely. I apply my solutions in this way:-I first wash the stone or
cement with silicate of potash sufficiently diluted to allow it to penetrate
the surface, and while still damp I apply the solution of aluminate of
potash and then before it dries I apply the solution of fluo-silicate, or
fluo-silicates, and repeat, if necessary, the operation. In general, however,
I prefer using a solution of a silicate of alumina prepared from natural
minerals by which one operation is saved. In this case, having damped the
stone or brickwork with a very weak solution of silicate of potash, I apply
to the still damp wall a solution of the silicate of alumina in potash,
and then a solution of fluo-silicate of magnesia, fluo-silicate of zinc, or
other fuo-silicates, or a mixture or combination of one or more of them.
For cements I mix the sand and other ingredient with the aluminate of
potash and then with the silicate of potash; or I mix them with the solution of
the silicate of alumina directly and then apply the fluo-silicate while the mass
is still moist.
The proportions of the materials to be employed may vary, but I
find the following produce a good result:-1. Aluminate of potash, 5,
parts by weight; fluo-silicate of magnesia, 4 parts, dissolved in a proper
quantity of water. 2. Silicate of potash, 7 parts by weight; aluminate
of potash, 6 parts; fluo-silicate, 5 parts. 3. When I use an alkaline
solution of silicate of alumina and fluo-silicate of magnesia, the propor-
tions I prefer are,-3. Silicate of alumina, 1 part by weight; fluo-silicate
of magnesia, 1 part. When I wish to produce colours in marbles,
plaster, or moulded clay I use fluo-silicates of certain metals, either alone
or in conjunction with fluo-silicates of zinc or magnesia, by the decompo-
sition of which the colours are produced thus, fluo-silicate of uranium will
give yellow; fluo-silicate of cobalt, a pink or blue; fluo-silicate of sesquioxide
of iron, a reddish brown. As the colours thus produced are insoluble silicates
they are of course fixed the moment they are produced. When I apply these
colours to tiles or bricks or earthenware which may be afterwards vitrified I
employ a mixture of fluo-silicates. Thus, suppose I wish to produce a cobalt
blue upon earthenware or tiles, I employ a mixture of fluo-silicates of lime
and cobalt and a somewhat larger quantity of silicate than where the object
is not to be subsequently vitrified. The materials thus employed for colouring
melt into a a coloured glass on being heated red hot.
Any colours used for frescoes may be mixed with the fluo-silicate of lime
or magnesia and subsequently fixed by silicate of potash alone or by a

page_text: solution of silicate of alumina, or by successive coatings of silicate or aluminate
of potash.
As I may use aluminate of potash and fluo-silicates alone, so I may find it
convenient in some cases to use silicate of potash and fluo-silicates alone with
alkaline silicates or aluminates, or alkaline silicates and aluminates combined,
and of fluo-silicates with an alkaline solution of a silicate of alumina.