An IMPROVED METHOD OF CUTTING ROCK OR STONE AND OTHER HARD SUBSTANCES, APPLICABLE FOR TUNNELLING, MINING, AND QUARRYING, SHAPING, OR DRESSING STONE, AND FOR OTHER LIKE OPERATIONS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Werdermann, of Princes Street, in the
County of Surrey, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "An
IMPROVED METHOD OF CUTTING ROCK OR STONE AND OTHER HARD SUBSTANCES,
APPLICABLE FOR TUNNELLING, MINING, AND QUARRYING, SHAPING, OR DRESSING
STONE, AND FOR OTHER LIKE OPERATIONS.”
Sealed the 23rd October 1874, and dated the 24th April 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Werdermann at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th April 1874.
I, RICHARD WERDERMANN, of Princes Street, in the County of
Surrey, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF CUTTING ROCK OR STONE AND OTHER HARD
SUBSTANCES, APPLICABLE FOR TUNNELLING, MINING, AND QUARRYING, SHAPING, OR
DRESSING STONE, AND FOR OTHER LIKE OPERATIONS," to be as follows:-
==
My Invention relates to a novel mode of and apparatus for cutting
and penetrating rocks in tunnelling, mining, quarrying, and similar

page_text: work, for shaping and dressing stone, and for cutting or penetrating
other hard substances.
The said Invention consists mainly in the application of intense heat
to the rock or other substances to be cut, crushed, or perforated, and is
carried into practice in the following manner :--On a rod or stem of cast
iron or other suitable material is fixed a set of powerful air or steam
blow pipes at such distances apart as to cover when in operation the
entire surface of, the rock to be cut or penetrated. According to the
section of the gallery of the tunnel will be the number of these vertical
sets of blow pipes employed so as to bring into contact with the flame
the whole surface of the said gallery. After a few minutes the rock is
calcined and scales off. The heat penetrates very far into the rock,
which becomes so brittle that large pieces can be cut down by oblique
blows with a heavy hammer or other implement. After having advanced
the gallery to a certain distance the sidings of the tunnel are dressed in
the same manner.
Instead of operating simply by heat, as above described, the blow
pipes may be applied only to those parts of the rock where holes
for blasting are to be made. Blasting, as heretofore applied in
tunnelling, tears away the roof, and the concussion causes the fractured
parts of the rock to fall down upon the heads of the workmen. In order
to prevent such accidents I combine the operations of blasting and
calcination as follows:-Instead of piercing the rock with a gallery
I calcine and cut the rock away around the circumference of the tunnel
to a depth of about two yards and a width of one yard. The cylinder or
core of rock left in the centre of the tunnel by thus cutting around the
same is then broken by blasting. The number of holes for the blasting
charges may be considerably less than heretofore because the rock
having become very brittle by exposure to the heat and being cut around
the circumference offers but slight resistance.
As the rock is very hot the cartridges to be used for the blasting must
be covered with a material which is a bad conductor of licat. I use by
preference capsules of carbon. If dynamite is used instead of gun-.
powder this precaution is less necessary.
After the explosion and during the time required to remove the
froments of rock a deeper art is mada hu calaination and the wonk

page_text: proceeds without interruption. If desired the blasting process may be
entirely dispensed with. The cylinder in the middle of the tunnel
having been strongly heated by the blow pipes can be crushed to pieces
by a few powerful blows of a steam hammer.
When the rock is very hard, as porphyry, granite, gneiss, and the like,
I prefer to use an electric blow pipe in the following manner:―The
carbons of the electric light are fixed on a suitable handle provided with
screws to regulate by hand the distance of the carbon points. At equal
distances from the carbon points are arranged the two poles of a powerful
electro-magnet. As soon as the light is produced, and. the electro-magnet
set in action, the voltaic arc is repelled and pointed like the flame of the
blow pipe. The same effect is obtained in blowing through the voltaic
arc between the two carbon points a powerful current of air or steam or
other suitable vapor or gas.
The heat obtained by such an electric blow pipe is so intense that the
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Richard Werdermann in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 24th October 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
WERDERMANN, of Princes Street, in the County of Surrey, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Richard Werdermann, Her special licence
that I, the said Richard Werdermann, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard Werdermann, 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

page_text: 1
r
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
CUTTING ROCK OR STONE AND OTHER HARD SUBSTANCES, APPLICABLE FOR TUNNEL-
LING, MINING, AND QUARRYING, SHAPING, OR DRESSING STONE, AND FOR OTHER LIKE
OPERATIONS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard
Werdermann, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in t
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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Werdermann, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference, being had to the accompanying
Drawing forming a part of this Specification:-
My Invention relates to a novel mode of cutting and penetrating rocks
in tunnelling, mining, quarrying, and similar work, and is applicable for
shaping and dressing stone, and for cutting or penetrating other hard
substances.
The said Invention consists chiefly in the application of intense heat
by the means herein described to the rock or other substances to be cut,
crushed, or perforated.
The manner in which my said Invention is carried into practice is
illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, which I will now proceed to
describe.
The first part of the said Invention is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine working in the leading heading
of a tunnel, and provided with the necessary appliances for effecting the
destruction and removal of the rock, as herein described; Figure 2 is a
front elevation of a portion of Figure 1. On a frame a of cast iron or
other suitable material is fixed a set of powerful air or steam blow pipes b
at such distances apart as to cover when in operation the entire surface
of the rock to be cut or penetrated. The said blow pipes are fixed on
jointed rods c, which permit their adjustment to any required position.
The frame a consists of horizontal pieces a¹, a², and uprights a³, a³.
These uprights and horizontal picces are hollow, and serve to conduct
the air and gas to the blow pipes. The pieces a³, a³, are supplied with

page_text: air by the pipe a³, and the pieces a³, a', are supplied with gas by the
pipe a. d is a flexible tube connected with the upright a³ for conducting
the air to the blow pipes, and e is a tube for conducting the gas from
the post a to the same. According to the section of the leading heading
of the tunnel will be the number of these sets of blow pipes, which are
so arranged as to bring the flames into contact with the whole surface of
the said leading heading. The frame a is mounted upon wheels f,
whereon it is supported and moved within the tunnel. After the said
blow pipes have been in operation a few minutes the rock is calcined
and scales off. The heat penetrates very far into the rock, which becomes
so brittle that large pieces can be cut down by oblique blows with a
heavy hammer or other implement. After having advanced the leading
heading to a certain distance the sidings of the tunnel are dressed in
the same manner.
Instead of operating simply by heat, as above described, the blow
pipes may be applied only to those parts of the rock where holes for
blasting are to be made. The process of blasting as heretofore applied
in tunnelling tears away the roof, and the concussion causes the
fractured parts of the rock to fall down upon the heads of the workmen.
But I prevent such accidents by combining the operations of blasting
and calcination as follows:-Instead of piercing the rock with a leading
heading, as above described, I calcine and cut the rock away around the
circumference of the tunnel to a depth of about two yards and a width
of one yard. The cylinder or core of rock left in the centre of the tunnel
The
by thus cutting around the same is then broken by blasting.
number of holes for the blasting charges may be considerably less than
heretofore, because the rock having become very brittle by exposure to
the heat and being cut around the circumference offers but slight
resistance.
As the rock is made very hot the cartridges to be used for the blasting
must be covered with a material which is a bad conductor of heat. I
use by preference capsules of carbon. If dynamite is used instead of
gunpowder this precaution is less necessary.
After the explosion and during the time required to remove the
fragments of rock a deeper cut is made by calcination, and the work
proceeds without interruption. If desired the blasting process may be
entirely dispensed with, as the cylinder in the middle of the tunnel

page_text: or other hard substances in mining, tunnelling, quarrying, and other
like operations.
Fourth. The machine or apparatus provided with adjustable blow pipes
supplied with air and gas, and constructed and operating as described in
connection with Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawing.
Fifth. The apparatus provided with the carbon points connected with
a battery, and the carbon tube supplied with air, steam, or gas, and with
devices for adjusting the said carbon points and tube, constructed and
operating as described in connection with Figures 3 and 4, and for the
purpose specified.
Sixth. The modification of the said apparatus in which the carbon
points are placed between the poles of an electro-magnet, as illustrated
in Figure 5, and for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Werdermann, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.
Witness,
JAS. EDWARDS,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.
R. WERDERMANN. (L.S.)