IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE PRODUCTION IN STEEL OR IRON OF PATTERNS OR DESIGNS FROM COPPER MATRICES AND OTHER SURFACES, AND OF STAMPS, MOULDS, AND OTHER OBJECTS, ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE PRODUCTION OF AN IRON OR STEEL COATING ON BRASS OR OTHER SURFACES
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Henry Noad at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 11th May 1881.
.
JOHN HENRY NOAD, of the Barking Road, in the County of Essex. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE PRODUCTION IN STEEL OR IRON OF PATTERNS OR DESIGNS FROM
COPPER MATRICES AND OTHER SURFACES, AND OF STAMPS, MOULDS, AND OTHER
OBJECTS, ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE PRODUCTION OF AN IRON OR STEEL COATING ON
BRASS OR OTHER SURFACES."
The chief object of my Invention is to reproduce from patterns, whether the
patterns be in wood, metal, wax, or other material, deposits in steel or iron for
embossing, printing, or stamping from such deposits or representations; another
object is to produce a steel or iron coating on brass or other alloys and metals, on
glass, plaster of Paris compositions, and other materials and compositions.
Many attempts have been heretofore made to obtain thick and dense steel or
iron deposits from or on patterns and designs, such as copper plates, but with no
practical success.
It is not new to produce from copper or other plates what are called " 'strikes,"
that is, a matrix in plaster of Paris, wax, copper, or other material, but it has not
hitherto been possible to reproduce from such matrix such an article in iron or
steel that it could be used for any useful purpose, such as for printing or stamping
from, whereas by my Invention I am able to produce such articles in iron or steel;
I am also aware that copper surfaces, for instance, are now coated with an
exceedingly thin coating of iron, a so-called "flash."
Now according to my Invention I obtain an iron or steel coating or deposition of
practically any required thickness, and of a density and hardness fully equal to best
wrought iron and steel; in order for instance to produce a steel stamp, die, or plate
having any desired design or pattern, I first obtain a matrix or "strike" in the
ordinary way, say in copper, and I place it in a bath, the basis of which or
important ingredient whereof consists of boracic acid or its equivalent of boron.
A convenient bath composition for producing a steely coating according to my
Invention is composed as follows:-I make a saturated solution of an iron salt,
such as proto-sulphate of iron, muriate of ammonia (or its equivalent, such as

page_text: carbonate of ammonia and hydrochloric acid) and boracic acid. Having obtained this
saturated solution,, I dilute it with an equal bulk of water by diminishing the
proportion of muriate of ammonia and by employing an iron anode of Swedish
charcoal or other pure wrought iron, the coating produced will be more or less of
the nature of wrought iron that is softer.
The matrix or strike to be reproduced being thus placed in a bath composed as
aforesaid is treated in the ordinary way of electrotyping, the required thickness of
deposit depending upon the time employed and the battery power.
As illustrations of the results of my Invention I obtain, for example, from copper
and other plates, such iron or steel copies or impressions or plates that the copy and
not the original may be used. By this process I can thus obtain plates which can be
used for printing or embossing, or for other purposes. I can also obtain dies or
moulds for casting or stamping glass, porcelain, or other ceramic and other articles,
and generally I reproduce in steel or iron any design desired or required to be
reproduced.
I may also according to this Invention produce a steel or iron coating on objects
made of brass or other alloys or metals, by exposing them to the action of the
aforesaid bath, thus for instance, brass clock wheels, bearings, and other working
parts of clocks or other machinery may be thus treated for the purpose of acquiring
increased strength and durability. Lead type and stereo plates may be similarly
coated with the same object in view.