A NEW OR IMPROVED PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF OAKUM
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Sheridan, of Antwerp, but now residing in
the Strand, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "A NEW
OR IMPROVED PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF OAKUM."
Sealed the 28th June 1867, and dated the 29th December 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Sheridan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th
December 1866.
I, CHARLES SHERIDAN, of Antwerp, but now residing in the Strand, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"A NEW OR IMPROVED PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF OAKUM," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to a new or improved process for manufacturing
oakum, being a substitute for the ordinary method, whereby oakum is made
from old tarred rope.
Since chain and wire rope or cordage have been employed so largely for the
rigging of vessels the supply of old tarred rope has decreased, and it has
become necessary to find a substitute; I therefore propose by my Invention to
manufacturé-oakum for caulking ships from hemp, whether Russian, Italian,
American, or Indian, or from tow of the said hemps; also from jute and all
fibrous matters, cuttings, or waste of jute, hemp, or tow.

page_text: The mode in which I operate is as follows:-I add to ten gallons of water
one gallon of Swedish or sweet tar; I then heat the mixture and keep it hot,
but it is not necessary to keep it boiling; while hot I add to it a solution of
carbonate of soda, potash, or other alkali, in hot water, iu a sufficient quantity
to thoroughly dissolve the tar, which will be known when the mixture becomes
white or rather yellowish. The mixture must be stirred from time to time.
The hemp, tow, or jute must be steeped in the mixture for five or ten minutes,
and then removed and allowed to drain; it is then to be dried for use.
The European hemps or tows require no preparation, but it is necessary to
open the jute and other Indian textile materials before steeping them in the
mixture with a breaker or scutcher or carding machine, so that the fibres may
not stick together and that the tar may dye and penetrate all portions of the
fibres, thus giving them the appearance and properties of the fibres of old
tarred rope. Some of the fibrous materials require to be steeped in vinegar,
so as to cause the tar to thoroughly adhere.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Sheridan in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 29th June 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
SHERIDAN, of Antwerp, but now residing in the Strand, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Charles Sheridan, Her special licence that I, the said Charles Sheridan, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles
Sheridan, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED
PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF OAKUM," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Charles Sheridan, 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,

page_text: 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 Charles Sheridan, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This Invention relates to a new or improved process for manufacturing
oakum, being a substitution for the ordinary method, whereby oakum is made
from old tarred rope.
Since chain and wire rope or cordage have been employed so largely for the
rigging of vessels the supply of old tarred rope has decreased, and it has
become necessary to find a substitute; I therefore propose by my Invention
to manufacture oakum for caulking ships from hemp, whether Russian, Italian,
American, or Indian, or from tow of the said hemps; also from jute and all
fibrous matters, cuttings, or waste of jute, hemp, or tow.
The mode in which I operate is as follows:-I add to ten gallons of water
one gallon of Swedish or sweet tar; I then heat the mixture and keep it hot,
but it is not necessary to keep it boiling; while hot I add to it a solution of
carbonate of soda, potash, or other alkali in hot water, in a sufficient quantity
to thoroughly dissolve the tar, which will be known when the mixture becomes
white or rather yellowish. The mixture must be stirred from time to time.
The hemp, tow, or jute must be steeped in the mixture for five or ten minutes,
and then removed and allowed to drain; it is then to be dried for use.
The European bemps or tows require no preparation, but it is necessary to
open the jute and other Indian textile materials before steeping them in the
mixture with a breaker, or scutcher, or carding machine, so that the fibres
may not stick together and that the tar may dye and penetrate all portions of
the fibres, thus giving them the appearance and properties of the fibres of old
tarred rope. Some of the fibrous materials require to be steeped in vinegar,
so as to cause the tar to thoroughly adhere.
It must, of course, be understood that one gallon of tar to ten gallons of
water is a proportion from which it may be necessary to deviate for some
materials; or when it is desirable to give a very dark or a very light dye to
the oakum it should be to every ten gallons of water one gallon of tar or
thereabouts.
The same process can be used for sails, even for running rigging. It is a
well-known fact that sails on long voyages, especially in hot climates, are worn
out more by the action of the heat of the sun than by the wind. By steeping

page_text: sails, whether new or partly worn out, in a solution of about one quarter
gallon of tar to ten gallons of water made soluble with carbonate of soda or
other alkaline stuff, and afterwards steeping them in vinegar, those sails will
last much longer, the small quantity of tar preserving the sails from the heat
of the sun and the effect of wet; this is especially the case with sails made of
jute canvas, which rots quickly after having been wetted with rain and exposed
to the heat of the sun.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be carried into effect, I would remark in conclusion
that I do not limit myself to the precise details I have described, nor to any
exact proportions of materials or ingredients mentioned; but I claim as my
Invention, and desire to be secured to me by the herein in part recited Letters
Patent, the manufacture of oakum from hemp, whether Russian, Italian,
American, or Indian, or from tow of the said hemps; also from jute and all
fibrous matters, cuttings, or waste of jute, hemp, or tow, by opening or
scutching them, and by treating the same with water, tar, carbonate of soda,
potash, or other alkali, as described; and from European hemps or tows,
which do not require scutching or breaking up, by similar treatment, sub-
stantially as herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Sheridan, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
T. LANGLOIS,
Antwerp, 117, Dambrugge Street.
CHS. SHERIDAN. (L.S.)