IMPROVEMENTS IN COATING AND IMPREGNATING METALS AND METALLIC ARTICLES
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPHI
STEBLE, of Chancery Lane, in the City of London, Patent Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Ninth day of August, in the fourteenth year of Her reign, did
give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Steele, my exors, admors, and
assigns, Her special license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said Joseph Steele, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I.
the said Joseph Steele, my exors, admors, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times hereafter
during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within that part of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland called England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and
in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COATING AND IMPREGNATING METALS AND METALLIC ARTICLES;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Joseph
Steele, shall particularly describe and ascertain the nature of this said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately

page_text: after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Joseph Steele, do hereby declare that the nature of this said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description, that is
to say:-
These improvements in coating and impregnating metals and metallic
articles consist, firstly, in a certain mode of coating and impregnating iron,
steel, copper, brass, and zinc, and articles made from any such metals, with a
solution or combination of ingredients so as to give them the appearance of
tin; secondly, it relates to a mode of coating surfaces or metallic articles with
brass or copper, and also of giving to such surfaces or articles, when required,
the appearance of bronze; thirdly, it relates to a mode of coating metals and
metallic articles with gold, by employing a solution thereof; and, lastly, it
relates to a mode of coating metals or metallic articles with silver, by
employing a solution thereof.
But in order that the Invention may be better understood and more readily
carried into effect, I will at once describe the same fully.
I will now proceed to describe the first part of the Invention, which bas
reference to coating and impregnating metals and metallic articles with a
solution or combination of ingredients so as to give them the appearance of
tin. The following proportions are found to produce the best results, but
they may be slightly increased or diminished without materially altering the
quality of the solution. Take a bath or trough (not composed of metal) and
put therein seventy-five gallons of distilled water, and heat the same by means
of a steam pipe having communication from a steam boiler inserted therein,
or by any other suitable means, until the distilled water is raised to a moderate
heat, say, about fifteen degrees Farenheit above temperature; then dissolve
in a separate vessel with some of the heated distilled water from the bath
about sixty pounds of common soda, and when dissolved strain through a hair
sieve into the bath or trough; then again take and dissolve in the separate
vessel with the solution from the bath about fifteen pounds of American potash,
or the potash which is preferred is that known abroad by the name of Russian
potash, strain the same into the bath, through the hair sieve; when done,
take in a separate vessel as before some solution from the bath and dissolve
therein about five pounds of caustic potash, which when dissolved add to the
bath as before; next add to the bath about two ounces of cyanide of potassium
and allow it to dissolve entirely; when the cyanide of potassium is dissolved

page_text: and in the bath add thereto about two ounces of acetate of zinc and allow it
also to dissolve entirely, after which take about sixteen pounds of bioxide of
tin and dissolve it in a separate vessel with the solution from the bath and
add it to the bath, taking care always in stirring the solution in the bath to
use a wooden or glass palate, or any nonconducting instrument. With the
combination of these ingredients the bath will be ready for use in about two
hours. I must now remark, that although it has been described that the cyanide
of potassium is to be added after the caustic potash, the bath will work
equally well if the cyanide of potassium be the last ingredient added; and
although certain proportions of the ingredients, and the periods of mixing
them together, have been mentioned, the bath may be varied without departing
from the Invention, and other convenient salts may be used to those named in
combination with the bioxide of tin, but having the same or analagous
chemical affinity towards each other; but the mode above described will be
found to answer best. Should the bath throw up dirt or crust it will be found
desirable to add a little alkali; should it present a red appearance, add by
degrees small quantities of sulphate of zinc. The solution in the bath should
never be worked unless it is at least fifteen degrees Farenheit above the
temperature. The metals or metallic articles to be coated and impregnated
should be well cleaned in a suitable "pickle," so as to render them perfectly
clean, after which they are to be immersed in the solution in connection with
one pole of an electric battery, and an electrode of pure tin or zinc, in con-
nection with the other pole of the battery, is to be suspended in the solution
at the time the metals or metallic articles are immersed therein. An elect-
rode of pure tin is preferred to zinc, as the color deposited will be whiter and
better.
I will now proceed to describe the second part of the Invention. The
following are the proportions which are found to answer best:-Take a bath
containing about six gallons of distilled water (heated in the same manner as
described in the first part of the Invention) and in a separate vessel, with
water from the bath dissolve about two pounds and a quarter of American
potash and strain it through a hair sieve into the bath; then mix together
in a separate vessel about two ounces and a half of powdered acetate of copper
with about half a pint of strong spirits of ammonia, which when well mixed
pour the same into the bath and well stir the whole with a wooden palate or
stick, as described in the first part of the Invention; then take from four to
five ounces of sulphate of zinc and dissolve with some of the solution in a
separate vessel and add it to the bath, and afterwards do the same with about
two ounces of cyanide of potassium, and this bath is then complete and ready

page_text: for immediate use. It is necessary to remark, that although the baths are
ready for use immediately when finished, they will be found to work better and
quicker when they have been allowed to stand in a quiescent state three or
four days. Should the deposit not be strong enough, add, according to
circumstances or discretion, acetate of copper or sulphate of zinc; but the quality
and color in the working of the bath must entirely be guided by the person
engaged in the manipulation thereof. But the proportions above described, and
the arrangement and different periods of mixing, are found to be correct; and
the reason these observations are inserted, respecting the skill or judgment of
the operator, is, that the atmosphere will at times produce effects in conjunction
with electricity, over which there is no human controul, and greatly puzzle
and mislead parties unacquainted with the fact. The solution for the bath for
coating metals and metallic articles with copper is precisely the same and
mixed in precisely the same manner as the above solution for brass, with the
exception of the sulphate of zinc, which must be omitted.
metallic articles to be coated with the brass or copper solution must be per-
fectly clean and free from grease when they are to be immersed therein, and
brought in connection with the poles of the electric battery, in the same
manner as in the first part of the Invention.
Metals and
The electric battery which should be used in conjunction with the above-
described solutions must be a powerful one, and the improved carbon battery,
known in France and Belgium by the name of "the Maheux battery," will
be found most suitable for carrying out this Invention. Wrought or cast iron,
or zinc, or any plain or ornamental articles composed of these materials,
whether by casting or otherwise, can be made to assume the appearance of
bronze by first depositing thereon a coat of brass or copper, and applying a
bronze; and a bronze composed of the following ingredients will be found to
answer well-sulphureted ammonia and water, equal parts, say, about three-
fourths of a pint each, to about two ounces of red coloring matter, (known by
the name of red) French chalk, with plumbago, according to the color required,
rubbed up as paint, with the mixture of ammonia and water, and applied with
a hair pencil or brush in the usual way. This formula will produce a brown
bronze; but if a green bronze is required, to the same quantities of water and
sulphureted ammonia add chrome yellow and Prussian blue, according to
taste, and so natural will be the appearance of the bronze on the metals
covered with the brass or copper solution that it would be difficult to dis-
tinguish the artificial from the real bronze.
I will now proceed to the third part of the Invention, which relates to
gilding. Dissolve one ounce of gold in a compound composed of eight ounces

page_text: of nitric acid and four ounces of hydrocholic acid (being in the proportion
of two parts to one part) in a pan over a spirit lamp or other suitable
apparatus; keep it over the heat until the whole of the acids are evaporated,
then take twenty-four ounces of prussiate of potash and twelve ounces of
carbonate of potash and place them together by degrees into a red-hot
crucible, and when they become melted pour them out into a strong open
earthenware vessel, when they will immediately become vitrified; then take
an iron enamelled pot of sufficient dimensions and pour therein from two to
three gallons of pure clean filtered water, then place therein the vitrified potashes
and boil the whole five or six minutes, taking great care the contents do not
boil over; filter the whole when cool through filtering paper and with the
filtered solution wash out the pot containing the dissolved gold until it
becomes perfectly clean and free from gold, after that put the whole into
the iron enamelled pot and allow it to boil for fifteen minutes, taking caro
not to let it boil over. When cool it must be filtered through filtering paper
to deprive it of any impurities which may have fallen into the pan whilst
boiling, and after having been left to cool to about twenty degrees or twenty-
five degrees Farenheit above temperature it will be ready for use.
This will
be a pure gold solution; but if a darker or deeper color be required add with
the gold at the time of dissolving a few pennyweights of copper. Metals or
articles in metal when perfectly clean and immersed in this solution in contact
with a small electrode of zinc or strip of zinc or copper will be found in a few
minutes to be coated with gold, but the solution should never be used without
being at least twenty degrees or twenty-five degrees Farenheit above the
temperature.
I will now proceed to describe the last part of the Invention, which relates
to silvering. Take about four ounces of silver finely cut or powdered and
place the same in a vessel, and add thereto by degrees about twenty ounces
of nitric acid, and place the pan containing the silver and nitric acid over a
spirit lamp. or other suitable apparatus until the silver is entirely dissolved,
then take another vessel containing about one gallon and a half of water in
which is dissolved about one pound and a half of muriate of sodium or
common salt, pour this saline solution into the vessel containing the silver
dissolved in nitric acid and let it stand until the silver is precipitated, then
pour off the saline solution, taking care not to allow any of the silver.
precipitate to escape, refill the vessel with pure water and stir it up with a
stick or otherwise and then allow it to settle, then pour off the water the
same as before, always taking care to prevent the silver precipitate from
escaping, and repeat the same operation of washing until the water poured off

page_text: be quite clean; when the silver precipitate is thoroughly cleansed from all
impurities and saline and aciduous particles, take about twenty-four ounces
of prussiate of potash and about twelve ounces of carbonate of potash, and
treat them in a similar manner to that in reference to the third part of the
Invention; then to the potashes pour in about a gallon and a half of water
and the silver precipitate, and place the whole into the enamelled iron pot
and allow it to boil for about fifteen minutes, when cold filter the same by
passing it through filtering paper, when it will be ready for use. The mode of
using this silver solution is similar to that described in reference to the third
part of this Invention, but a small electrode or strip of zinc alone and not
copper must be used.
Having now described the nature of this Invention and the best method
at present known for, effectually. working the same, it must now be under-
stood that although the best proportionate parts and the periods of mixing
the different ingredients composing the different solutions may be, as before
remarked, varied without departing from the nature or principles of the
Invention, neither are any of the substances in themselves which are used
to compose the different solutions claimed as metals may have been coated
before with some of these ingredients; but what is claimed in reference to
the first part of the Invention is, the coating and impregnating metals and
metallic articles with a solution composed of the different ingredients, whose
proportions may be slightly increased or decreased and worked, in conjunction
with a current of electricity, to give to such metals or metallic articles the
appearance of tin, as above described.
Secondly, what is claimed under the second part of this Invention is, the
coating metals and metallic articles with a solution of brass and copper in
conjunction with a current of electricity, and of giving to their surfaces when
coated with any of these solutions a coat of bronze, as above described.
Thirdly, what is claimed under the third part of the Invention is, the
coating of metals and metallic articles with gold, in conjunction with a small
electrode of zinc or copper, to give to such metals and metallic articles the
appearance of gold, as above described.
And what is claimed, lastly, is the coating of metals and metallic articles
with silver, in conjunction with a small electrode or strip of zinc, for giving to
such metals and metallic articles the appearance of silver, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Steele, have hercunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
JOSEPH (LS.)
(L.S.) STEELE,

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighth day of February, in
the year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid Joseph Steele came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Eighth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.