ROVEMENTS IN TREATING CERTAIN METALLIC ALLOYS FOR IMPARTING RESONANCE THERETO
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Thomas Hughes, of the Firm of Hughes
and Son, Patent Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, for the In-
vention of IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING CERTAIN METALLIC ALLOYS FOR
IMPARTING RESONANCE THERETO." -A communication from abroad by
Benjamin Silliman, of New Haven, Connecticut, Chemist, and
Horace Cornwall Wilcox, of West Meriden, Connecticut, Manu-
facturer of Britannia Ware, both in the United States of America.
.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Thomas,
Hughes at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 22nd December 1875.
I, EDWARD. THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and: Son,
Patent Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING CERTAIN
METALLIC ALLOYS FOR IMPARTING RESONANCE THERETO," a. communication to
me from abroad by Benjamin Silliman, of New Haven, Connecticut,.
Chemist, and Horace Cornwall. Willcox, of West Meriden, Connecticut,

page_text: Manufacturer of Britannia Ware, both in the United States of America,
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates especially to that class of metallic alloys
known as Britannia, pewter, and white metal, and composed of tin or
other soft metal, hardened by antimony, copper, zinc, and the like,
which as now manufactured are notoriously deficient in resonance,
giving when struck only a dull and leaden sound.
Whatever degree of resonance or ring the ingots or casts of these
alloys may possess is entirely destroyed by the mechanical processes of
rolling or lamination, of spinning and striking up, by which means the
products of this industry are chiefly brought into the desired forms
during their manufacture. Many attempts have been made to impart
this desirable musical quality to such wares by changing the proportion
of their ingredients and otherwise, but hitherto, and until this Invention,
without success.
4
The process consists in submitting articles of Britannia, pewter, white
metal, and the like, however the same may be compounded, and which
are destitute of resonance or musical ring, whether formed by the pro-
cesses of rolling, spinning, or otherwise, to the action of a regulated
and well determined temperature, just short of their melting point,, for a
brief but measured time. By this simple process all vessels of capacity
of whatever form or dimension and all other articles of the class of
metallic alloys named are endowed with the musical quality so justly
esteemed, but hitherto wanting in these wares, and supposed to be
peculiar to the harder alloys, and which until this Invention it has
been considered impossible to develop in Britannia and other like
alloys.
In carrying out this Invention there. should be provided a bath or
vessel of capacity sufficient to accomodate the largest articles to be
treated. It may be made of copper or of iron, as may be most con-
venient, and must be provided with an easily regulated source of heat,
such as is found in a good gas furnace. This bath may be filled with
either paraffin or a heavy mineral oil, freed in its manufacture from all
the lighter oils of low boiling point, and capable of withstanding a
temperature of at least 500° Fahr., without boiling. The oils known as
Downer's "spindle oil," and Merrill's "neutral heavy hydrocarbon oil,"
of a density not less than 25° Beaumé, fulfill these conditions, and are
-

page_text: found in commerce. The temperature of this bath must be raised to
about 220° C., or 428° Fahr., and then more gradually to about 230° C.,
or 446° Fahr., that is, just below the melting point of Britannia, which
will be found to vary as produced by different makers.
It is quite essential that in every case the expert using this Invention
should determine by the thermometer the exact melting point of his
own alloy, and also its temperature of solidification. It will be found
by trial that these alloys suspended in the bath will endure a tempe-
rature several degrees above what they can stand if they are permitted
to touch the metallic sides or bottom of the bath. A wire or rod of
metal less fusible than the alloy if permitted to touch it when near the
point of its fusion cuts it like a soldering iron; these two points being
experimentally determined, viz., the melting point, and so to speak, the
freezing or solidifying point.
In practicing this Invention the bath should be kept within, say,
10° Fahr. of the melting point of the alloy, and the articles to be treated
immersed therein for a brief time, which will vary with the size and
weight of the articlés treated. For small and rather thin pieces from
fifteen to thirty seconds has been found a sufficient time; for larger
articles of greater weight, like urns, soup tureens, &c., the time may
be safely extended to a minute or more. Care is requisite in handling
objects at this temperature to support them in a way to prevent dis-
tortion or collapse, for the alloy when heated to the required degree
becomes very fusible; all contact of the articles with tools of metal
must be avoided beneath the hot bath. For vessels of larger capacity,
like vases, urns, and the like, contact of the bath with one surface only
of the alloy suffices; thus the vase, urn, &c., may be sunk in the bath
nearly its entire depth; it is there easily handled by means of a plug or
disc of dry wood, by a clamp of wood, or by a woollen glove, while its
mouth which remains in the air during this treatment must also be
subsequently plunged in the bath; this is readily done by holding the
article with its mouth downward supported in a band of webbing, or by
a wooden clamp.
The time requisite for the treatment of such articles as are bathed on
only one surface may be somewhat longer than when the immersion is
total. Like all other arts of manual dexterity their treatment is soon
learned by an expert workman. Care-is--needed to avoid contact of

page_text: water, or even of a damp surface with the bath at the temperature.
required, as the sudden generation of steam might occasion an explosive.
scattering of the hot bath with serious effects. It is also desirable that
the bath should be provided with a hood leading into a well drawing.
flue to carry away the heavy vapors given off during the process. As
the result sought is almost instantaneous the expert using this process
has it always in his power to judge if the right degree of ring or
resonance has been attained, and can repeat the process if found
needful.
The rapid cooling of the articles after they are withdrawn from the
bath makes no difference, either with their musical resonance or their
stiffness, both which qualities are equally produced by allowing the
articles to cool slowly or quickly. If however to save time they are
cooled in water they must be very thoroughly dried before again
plunging them in the bath, If any portion of the objects thus treated
fail of being brought up to the proper crystallizing temperature the
resonance of the articles is greatly impaired, such uncrystallized parts
failing to vibrate in unison with the rest a discord is produced. Articles.
thus treated by this process lose part of the density imparted by the.
mechanical pressure of rolling, &c., but do not become porous like the
cast articles. They also acquire a sensibly increased stiffness or temper,
enabling them the better to stand rough usage. This important-
quality is equally with the resonance or ring due to the molecular
arrangement of the particles in a crystalline order imparting a rigidity
which is not found in the laminated and spun metal. Articles prepared
by this process can be soldered, turned, plated, burnished, and submitted
to any of the mechanical processes requisite in their manufacture,
except those of rolling, spinning, and the like, without loss of the
musical property imparted by this method of treatment.
re->
Although it is preferred to use the method already described for
obtaining the uniform application of the temperature requisite for
the production of the musical ring, yet this Invention is not confined
to the exclusive use of a bath of oil, paraffine, or the like, since the same.
results may be attained by the use of other vehicles of heat, such as an
air bath, or oven, superheated steam, and the like, but in practice
nothing will be found so convenient and so economical as a bath such as
described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
I filed by the said Edward Thomas Hughes in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 22nd June 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
THOMAS Hughes, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent Agents, 123,
Chancery Lane, London.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
fortieth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, Her
special license that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such. others as I, the said
Edward Thomas Hughes, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING CERTAIN
METALLIC ALLOYS FOR IMPARTING RESONANCE THERETO," a communication
to me from abroad by Benjamin Silliman, of New Haven, Con-
necticut, Chemist, and Horace Cornwall Wilcox, of West Meriden,
Connecticut, Manufacturer of Britannia Ware, both in the United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Edward Thomas Hughes, 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, 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.
2
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, that is to say :---
This Invention relates especially to that class of metallic alloys known

page_text: as Britannia, pewter, and white metal, and composed of tin or other soft
, metal, hardened by antimony, copper, zinc, and the like, which as now
manufactured are notoriously deficient in resonance, giving when struck
only a dull and leaden sound.
Whatever degree of resonance or ring the ingots or casts of these
alloys may possess is entirely destroyed by the mechanical processes of
rolling or lamination of spinning and striking up, by which means the
products of this- industry are chiefly brought into the desired forms
during their manufacture. Many attempts have been made to impart
this desirable musical quality to such wares by changing the proportion
of their ingredients and otherwise, but hitherto and until this Invention
without success.
. The process consists in submitting articles of Britannia, pewter, white
metal, and the like; however, the same may be compounded, and which
are destitute of resonance or musical ring, whether formed by the
processes of rolling, spinning, or otherwise, to the action of a regulated
and well determined temperature just short of their melting point for a
brief but measured time. By this simple process all vessels of capacity
of whatever form or dimension, and all other articles of the class of
metallic alloys named are endowed with the musical quality so justly.
esteemed but hitherto wanting in these wares and supposed to be
peculiar to the harder alloys, and which until this Invention it has been
considered impossible to develope in Britannia and other like alloys.
0
In carrying out this Invention there should be provided a bath or
vessel of capacity sufficient to accomadate the largest articles to be
treated. It may be made of copper, or of iron, as may be most con-
venient, and must be provided with an easily regulated source of heat,
such as is found in a good gas furnace. This bath may be filled with
either paraffin or a heavy mineral oil, freed in its manufacture from
all the lighter oils of low boiling point, and capable of standing a
temperature of at least 500° Fahr. without boiling. The oils known as
Downer's "spindle oil" and Merrill's "neutral heavy hydrocarbon oil"
of a density not less than 25° "Beaumé" fulfill these conditions,
and are found in commerce. The temperature of this bath must be
raised to about 220° C. or 420° Fahr., and then more gradually to about
230° C. or 446° Fahr., that is just below the melting point of 'Britannia,
which will be found to vary as produced by different makers,

page_text: It is quite essential that in every case the expert using this Invention
should determine by the thermometer the exact melting point of his
own alloy, and also its temperature of solidification. It will be found
by trial that these alloys suspended in the bath will endure a temperature
several degrees above what they can stand, if they are permitted to
touch the metallic sides or bottom of the bath. A wire or rod of metal
less fusible than the alloy if permitted to touch it when near the point
of its fusion cuts it like a soldering iron, these two points being
experimentally determined, viz., the melting point, and so to speak, thë
freezing or solidifying point.
:
In practicing this Invention the bath should be kept within, say
10° Fahr. of the melting point of the alloy, and the articles to be treated
immersed therein for a brief time which will vary with the size and
weight of the articles treated. For small and rather thin pieces from
fifteen to thirty seconds has been found a sufficient time; for larger
articles of greater weight, like urns, soup tureens, &c., the time may be
safely extended to a minute or more. Care is requisite in handling
objects at this temperature to support them in a way to prevent distortion.
or collapse, for the alloy when heated to the required degree becomes
very fusible. All contact of articles with tools of metal must be
avoided beneath the hot bath. For vessels of larger capacity like vases,
urns, and the like, contact of the bath with one surface only of the
alloy suffices, thus the vase, urn, &c., may be sunk in the bath nearly
its entire depth; it is then easily handled by means of a plug or disc of
dry wood by a clamp of wood or by a woollen glove, while its mouth
which remains in the air during this treatment must also be subsequently
plunged in the bath; this is readily done by holding the article with its
mouth downward supported in a band of webbing or by a wooden
clamn

page_text: flue to carry away the heavy vapors given off during the process. As
the result sought is almost instantaneous the expert using this process
has it always in his power to judge if the right degree of ring or
resonance has been attained and can repeat the process if found
needful.
The rapid cooling of the articles after they are withdrawn from the
bath makes no difference either with their musical resonance or their
stiffness, both which qualities are equally produced by allowing the
articles to cool slowly or quickly. If however, to save time they are
cooled in water, they must be very thoroughly dried before again
plunging them in the bath. If any portion of the objects thus treated
fail of being brought up to the proper crystallizing temperature, the
resonance of the articles is greatly impaired, such uncrystallized parts
failing to vibrate in unison with the rest a discord is produced. Articles
thus treated by this process lose part of the density imparted by the
mechanical pressure. of rolling, &c., but do not become porous like the
cast articles. They also acquire a sensibly increased stiffness or temper,
enabling them the better to stand rough usage; this important quality
is equally with the resonance or ring due to the molecular rearrange-
ment of the particles in a crystalline order, imparting, a rigidity which
is not found in the laminated and spun metal. Articles prepared by
this process can be soldered, turned, plated, burnished, and submitted
to any of the mechanical processes requisite in their manufacture,
except those of rolling, spinning, and the like, without loss of the
musical property imparted by this method of treatment.
Although it is preferred to use the method already described for
obtaining the uniform application of the temperature requisite for the
production of the musical ring, yet this Invention is not confined to the
exclusive use of a bath of oil, paraffin, or the like, since the same results
may be attained by the use of other vehicles of heat, such as an air bath
or oven, superheated steam, and the like, but in practice nothing will be
found so convenient and so economical as a bath such as described.
Having now described the nature and particulars of the said Inven-
tion, I claim, the process of submitting metallic alloys, such as white
metal, Britannia, and the like, to a regulated temperature just short of
the melting point for the purpose of permitting and securing the
crystalline rearrangement of their molecules, and the production in

page_text: consequence of a musical ring or metallic resonance, substantially as
herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of June,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.