IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF JEWELLERY AND OTHER ARTICLES OF WOOD COATED OR COVERED WITH METAL communica
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake of the firm of Haseltine Lake
and C° Patent Agents Southampton Buildings London for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF JEWELLERY AND OTHER ARTICLES
OF WOOD COATED OR COVERED WITH METAL communicated to me from
abroad by Georges Louis Maës and Henri Alexandre Victor Wirth, of Paris,
France
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th April 1883.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & C° Patent
Agents, Southampton Buildings, London "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF JEWELLERY AND OTHER ARTICLES OF WOOD COATED OR COVERED WITH METAL
"
[A communication to me from abroad by Georges Louis Maës and Henri Alexandre
Victor Wirth, of Paris, France]
This invention has for its object the production of articles in wood covered with
a metallic deposit by means of electricity in such a manner as to imitate jewellery,
articles of gold or silver, bronzes, and other articles usually made of metal, such as
frames or mountings for crystal, services and gold and silver articles for the table,
articles used for lighting purposes, furniture, and moulded articles, objects for
religious purposes; these articles being previously turned, cut or carved in wood,
are afterwards covered with a metal coating sufficiently thick to permit it to be
carved, burnished, incrusted, inlayed, hammered, engraved, lacquered, gilded, or
silvered, and generally subjected to many of the operations of which metals are
susceptible.
The articles thus made constitute novel products which differ essentially from
wood partially or wholly gilded or metallized for the purpose of ornamentation as
heretofore practised, in that the metal coating which is put on the wood will, like
metal, bear the operations, such as carving, above mentioned, of which the objects
as heretofore made are not susceptible.

page_text: These novel products have therefore the double character of being as easily
worked as wood without the aid of moulding or casting, and of undergoing many
of the operations which metal is capable of bearing, objects of gold, silver or the
like are thus formed in which the wood plays the part of a support or core.
The process is carried on in the following manner, that is to say; After having
perfectly cleansed, by means of any well known acid, the surface of the carved
wood which it is desired to coat or cover with gold or silver and having thus
slightly bitten the said surface, it is subjected to a temperature of about one
hundred degrees centigrade, in a furnace or stove, for a sufficient period of time to
effect a complete desiccation
A layer of plumbago is then spread over the carved wood, with a brush, and it
is then rubbed with a brush in such a manner as to spread it uniformly and fill all
the pores of the wood.
The object thus prepared is plunged into a bath containing a solution of copper
in which it is coated or covered, under the influence of an electric current, with a
layer of copper, more or less thick in proportion to the time it is allowed to remain
in the bath. This layer of copper serves as a base for the subsequent operations,
for coating with either gold or silver.
To effect these operations, it is only necessary to immerse the object, covered
with copper, in a solution of silver or of gold, as desired; the action produced by a
current from any suitable source of electricity causes the deposition of a layer of
gold or of silver more or less thick according to the time the object is allowed to
remain in the solution.
To complete the operation parts of the object are burnished by means of a
burnisher or polishing tool.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd October 1883.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co, Patent
Agents, Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF JEWELLERY AND OTHER ARTICLES OF WOOD COATED OR COVERED WITH METAL.”
A communication to me from abroad by Georges Louis Maës and Henri Alexandre
Victor Wirth, of Paris, France.
This invention relates to the manufacture of jewellery and other articles coated
or covered with metal.
The said invention has for its object to cover articles of wood with a metallic
deposit by means of electricity, and in such a manner as to imitate gold, silver,
bronze and other articles usually made of metal, such as frames or mountings for
crystal, gold and silver articles for the table, articles used for lighting purposes,
furniture, moulded articles, and objects for religious purposes. These articles being
previously turned, cut or carved in wood, are afterwards covered with a metal
coating of suitable thickness to permit them to be carved, burnished, incrusted,
inlayed, hammered, engraved, lacquered, gilded, or silvered, and generally subjected
to many of the operations of which metals are susceptible.
The articles thus made constitute novel products which differ essentially from
wood partially or wholly gilded or metallized for the purpose of ornamentation as
heretofore practised, in that the metal coating which is put on the wood will like
metal bear operations, such as carving as above mentioned, of which the objects as
heretofore made are not susceptible.
These novel products have therefore the double character of being as easily
worked as wood without the aid of moulding or casting, and of undergoing many
of the operations which metal is capable of bearing. Objects of gold, silver or
the like are thus formed in which the wood plays the part of a support or core.
This process is carried on in the following manner, that is to say:-After having
perfectly cleansed, by means of any well known acid, the surface of the carved
wood which it is desired to coat or cover with gold or silver, and having thus
slightly bitten the said surface, it is subjected to a temperature of about one
hundred degrees centigrade, in a furnace or stove for a sufficient period of time to
effect a complete desiccation.
A layer of plumbago is then spread over the carved wood, with a brush, and it
is then rubbed with a brush in such a manner as to spread it uniformly and fill all
the pores of the wood.
The object thus prepared is plunged into a bath containing a solution of copper,
in which it is coated or covered under the influence of an electric current, with a
layer of copper, more or less thick in proportion to the time it is allowed to remain
in the bath. This layer of copper serves as a base for the subsequent operations,
for coating with either gold or silver.
To effect these operations, it is only necessary to immerse the object covered with
copper in a solution of silver or of gold as desired; the action produced by a
current from any suitable source of electricity causes the deposition of a layer of
gold or of silver, more or less thick according to the time the object is allowed to
remain in the solution.
To complete the operation, parts of the object are burnished by means of a
burnisher or polishing tool.
Having thus fully described the said invention as communicated to me by

page_text: my Foreign Correspondent and the manner of performing the same, I wish it
understood that I claim.
The above described new products capable of being worked in the same manner
as the metals of which they posses the qualities, and characterized by the
combination of a support or core of wood with a metallic coating which forms
the surface of the said object and is obtained by means of electricity.
In Witness whereof I the said William Robert Lake have hereunto set my hand
and seal this third day of October in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and eighty three.