AN IMPROVED METHOD OF BRAZING GUN BARRELS AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick August Kunow Waldemar Von Oppen, of Pall
Mall, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF BRAZING GUN BARRELS AND OTHER ARTICLES." A communication
from abroad by Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company (Incorporated),
of Hartford, in the State of Connecticut, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick August Kunow
Waldemar Von Oppen at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the
7th May 1879.
FREDERICK AUGUST KUNOW WALDEMAR VON OPPEN, of Pall Mall, in the County
of Middlesex. "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF BRAZING GUN BARRELS AND OTHER
ARTICLES." [A. communication from abroad by Colt's Patent Firearms Manu-
facturing Company (Incorporated), of Hartford, in the State of Connecticut, United
States of America.]
This Invention relates to a novel mode of brazing or hard soldering together the
parts of metallic articles generally, and is particularly adapted to the brazing
together the barrels, the ribs, and the lump of double barrelled guns.
In carrying out the Invention in its application to double barrelled guns, the
parts which are to be brazed together are brought into their proper relative
positions, and secured in place by means of iron clamps or wire bands, which have
wedges driven under them to key the whole of the parts.
Along the joints where brazing is required wire or strips of a composition of
copper, tin, and zinc, or of other fusible material suitable for brazing is placed, and
retained in position by means of the clamps or bands which bind together the parts
to be brazed.
The barrels and their attachments thus secured are inserted in a cylindrical or
tapering case, preferably an iron tube which is longer than the barrels, and of
sufficient internal diameter to leave a space between the barrels and the case for
the reception of a bed or filling of a suitable porous material, such as powdered
charcoal, or clay which will not when heated affect the parts or the brazing
materials injuriously, will keep them from contact with the tube, and will permit of

page_text: the free escape of the gases evolved in the process of heating at the ends of the
tube. The ends of the tube may be closed with moist clay, or plaster, or with
plugs of iron luted in, but boles must be pierced through these end plugs or
stoppings to allow the gas to escape freely.
As it is usually necessary while the tube is being heated and the brazing
material is melting to keep the tube turning, means may be provided for
suspending it in bearings within the furnace, or it may simply be rolled on the
floor of the furnace.
Provision should also be made for tipping up the tube at either end to equalize
the distribution of the brazing material along the joints.
The time when the operation has been successfully performed is usually indicated
by the colour of the flame issuing from the vents in the end plugs or stoppings of
the tube, a few minutes after which the tube may be withdrawn from the furnace.
The rolling and tipping motion should be continued until the brazing material
has become solidified by cooling. When the tube has been cooled the work may be
removed therefrom.
In applying this Invention to the brazing of articles other than, gun barrels, the
same method of proceeding is observed, but the shape of the containing case is
varied so as to ensure an equal distribution of the charcoal or other substance used
as packing around the parts to be brazed together, and thereby to obtain a uniform
heating of the parts.
Provision is also made for tipping and turning these cases in the furnace in order
to run the brazing material along the joints in any direction wished for.
The walls of these cases must also be pierced to allow of the free escape of the
gases evolved during the furnace heating. The clamps or wires by which the parts
are held together become brazed to the articles they hold, and usually require to be
removed by chipping and filing.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Frederick August Kunow Waldemar Von Oppen in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 5th November 1879.
FREDERICK AUGUST KUNOW WALDEMAR VON OPPEN, of Pall Mall, in the County
of Middlesex. "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF BRAZING GUN BARRELS AND OTHER
ARTICLES." A communication from abroad by Colt's Patent Firearms Manu-
facturing Company (Incorporated), of Hartford, in the State of Connecticut, United
States of America.
This Invention relates to a novel mode of brazing or hard soldering together
the parts of metallic articles, and is particularly applicable to the brazing together
of the two barrels, the ribs, and the "lump" of double barrelled guns. It may
however be used in the brazing of other articles.
In carrying out my Invention in its application to double gun barrels, the two
barrels, the ribs, and lump are prepared for brazing by being clamped together
with iron clamps, or bound together with wire bands wrapped around the pieces,
wedges being driven under the bands to key the barrels, ribs, and lump tightly
together in exactly the relative positions they are intended to occupy when the
brazing is completed. Wires or strips of a composition of copper, tin, and zinc,
or of other fusible material suitable for brazing are laid along the joints where
brazing is required, and this brazing material is held in place by the same clamps
or wire bands which fasten together the parts to be brazed.
The barrels and their attachments bound together as described are placed in a
cylindrical or tapering case, preferably an iron tube which is longer than the
barrels, and large enough to leave considerable space between the barrels and the
case. It has been found that a wrought iron pipe of three and a quarter inches
internal diameter, and a quarter of an inch thickness open at the ends makes a
suitable receptacle for the barrels of an ordinary double barrelled shot gun.
The space between the barrels and the walls of the tube is packed full of
powdered charcoal, or clay, or other suitable porous material, which will not when
heated affect the parts or the brazing material injuriously, but will pack closely
around the parts, keep them from contact with the tube, and permit the escape
at the ends of the tube of the gases evolved in the process of heating. The ends
of the tube may be closed with plugs of moist clay or plaster, or even of iron
luted in, but holes must be pierced through the end plugs to permit the gas to
escape freely.
The tube and contents having been thus prepared are placed in a heating
furnace, and heated to the proper temperature for melting the brazing material,
and producing its flow into the joints between the pieces.
During the heating and while the brazing material is melted, it is usually
necessary to keep turning the tube about its axis, which may be done by rolling
it on the floor of the furnace, or having it suspended in bearings (within the
furnace) in which the tube may be turned. The tube may also occasionally be
tipped lengthwise by lifting the opposite ends alternately to equalise the dis-
tribution of the molten brazing material along the joints, but this is not always
necessary.
The melting of the brazing material will usually be indicated by the color of
the flame which is seen at the vent holes in the end plugs of the tube, and the
work should remain in the furnace for a few minutes after this indication is first
shewn. The tube and contents are then removed from the furnace and allowed
to cool slowly, the rolling movement of the tube being continued outside the
furnace until the brazing material has become solidified by cooling. After this the
tube containing the barrels is allowed to become cold before opening it to remove
the work. The destruction of the iron tube or envelope being slow, it may be
used repeatedly in the brazing operation.

page_text: To apply this Invention to the brazing articles other than gun barrels no different
definite instructions are needed. It is however desirable so to shape the metallic
or other rigid case or envelope for containing the articles, that the thickness of the
porous packing may be as uniform as practicable in order that the different parts of
the articles may be simultaneously and uniformly heated, while it is also well so to
shape the outside of the case that it may easily be tipped or turned in the fornace
in order to insure the proper distribution of the brazing material.
It is necessary to perforate the walls or the cover of the case, or to provide
otherwise for the escape of gas. The clamps and wires by which the parts are held
together, if of metal, become brazed to the articles they hold, and usually must be
removed by chipping and filing.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improved Method of
Brazing Gun Barrels and other Articles," as communicated to me from abroad, and
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I would remark that
I am aware that gun barrels have been brazed by surrounding them with clay put
on in a plastic condition, and permitted to harden, the barrels thus covered being
heated in a furnace; but this is a difficult and hazardous process, for the clay is liable
to become broken off in the furnace, and thus expose the valuable barrels to
unequal and injurious heating.
In the above described process the case serves to retain the porous covering
of the articles to be brazed in its proper place, and permits the whole to be
manipulated within the furnace without danger of displacing the pieces, their
covering, or the brazing material. I am also aware that articles are case hardened
by heating them in an iron box containing a packing of animal charcoal, but this is
a process distinct from that above described.
What I claim therefore under the above in part recited Letters Patent is, the
brazing together the parts of metallic articles by heating them in the presence of
brazing material while held firmly together, and surrounded by a porous material
_contained in a case of rigid refractory material, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick August Kunow Waldemar Von
Oppen, have hereunto set my hand and seal, the Fourth day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.
DIATסתוס
VON
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