AN. IMPROVED METHOD OF FORMING PLATES WITH RAISED SURFACES THEREON FOR PRINTING IMPRESSIONS ON DIFFERENT SUB- STANCES
Year: 1837

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GODFREY
WOONE, of Berkeley Street, Piccadilly, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman,
send greeting...
WHEREAS His late most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,.
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twelfth day of June, in the seventh year of His said late
Majesty's reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto
the said Godfrey Woone, His especial license, that I, the said Godfrey.
Woone, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I; the said Godfrey.
Woone, my exors, admors, and assigns, should at any time, agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years
therein expressed,.,should and lawfully.. might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within that part of His said late Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland called England, and Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention for "AN. IMPROVED METHOD OF FORMING PLATES
WITH RAISED SURFACES THEREON FOR PRINTING IMPRESSIONS ON DIFFERENT SUB-
STANCES; in which, said Letters. Patent there is contained a proviso obliging.
me, the said Godfrey Woone, by an instrument in writing under my hand

page_text: and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
enrolled in His said late Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six months
next and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as
in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Godfrey Woone, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is described and ascer-
tained as follows (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists in improvements in forming moulds or matrices
from which casts are to be taken in metal or other substances capable of
receiving a sharp impression, having on their surface the relief of the pattern,
engraving, writing, or design, intended to be printed or impressed on calico,
silk, paper, leather, or other fabrics or substances, on which impressions are
now commonly taken from plates, blocks, or cylinders with raised figures,
engravings, or designs produced thereon, by cutting, engraving, stamping,
etching, or otherwise lowering the parts or insterstices between the work
intended to be left in relief, or from steriotype casts obtained from such
original plates or blocks. I obtain my moulds by the following methods,
according to the nature of the pattern, engraving, or design I am desirous of
obtaining in relief. For the finer patterns used in calico or other printing or
paper staining, or for engravings, such as are usually cut on box wood and
printed at a type press, I make use of the following method:-I take white
lead and plaster of paris in different proportions, about two parts by measure
of white lead and one of plaster of paris, mixed with water to the consistence
of cream. I then pour this mixture or composition on a well polished and
perfectly even plate or block of metal or other hard substance of the required
size, varying the depth of the composition to the height of the required relief.
For work to be printed at the type press, in the manner of wood engravings,
the thickness of the layer or composition need not exceed the twenty-fourth
part of an inch; but for coarser patterns or designs, as for calico printing, the
thickness of the composition must be increased to about the eighth part of an
inch. The plate or block covered with the above composition must be left to
dry gradually, or baked until it is entirely dry; or in order to give this
coating a more even and perfect surface, and obtain with greater exactness
the required thickness or height, I lay the composition or coating on the plate
or block thicker than I intend to work upon. After the coating has been

page_text: well dried, I scrape or smooth the surface down to the required thickness
with a piece of metal having a perfectly true and even edge. I first trace or
draw on this composition or coating the design or pattern in the usual manner
now employed by engravers or artists. I then proceed to engrave, etch,
scratch, or draw with a steel point or other suitable instrument or machine all
the lines or parts of the design through the composition or coating down to the.
metal or substance on which the composition or coating is laid.
I now describe the second manner of forming my moulds or matrices, which
is preferable for the coarser patterns or colouring blocks used in calico or
other printing, but may also be applied to finer work. I take a piece of metal,
wood, pasteboard, stone, or composition of plaster of paris, of the height of the
intended relief, and I glue or otherwise fix the same on a block of wood,
metal, or other suitable material. I then cut, engrave, or etch with acid, in
the usual manner employed by engravers, quite through the piece of metal,
wood, &c., either the outline or the whole of the pattern or design. When the
outline only has been cut, engraved, or etched through the piece of metal,
wood, &c., it is necessary that those parts that are within the outline of the
pattern or design should be taken out or removed, in order to form a perfect
mould or matrice of the pattern or design to be obtained in relief. If acid is
used for obtaining this mould in metal, stone, &c., the plate of metal or stone,
&c. may be fixed on a block of wood, pasteboard, or any other substance that
is not liable to be corroded by the acid used for biting in the mould of the
design or pattern. It is necessary, in order to procure a perfectly clear
impression from the casts to be obtained from these moulds, that some parts
should be lowered or depressed in order that those parts may not receive the
printing ink or matter when applied to the relief, and so produce a blurred or
imperfect impression on the paper, calico, or other substance to be printed on..
In order to effect this, I either take a cast from the mould immediately after
it is finished by the methods I have before described, and then proceed to
finish the cast ready for receiving the ink, colour, &c., by the usual methods
employed by wood engravers, of cutting, engraving, scooping, or lowering
those parts of the cast which, in consequence of the distance between parts of
the design, &c., require to be deeper than the rest; or I make use of the
following method:-After the whole of the design, engraving, or pattern has
been engraved, cut, or etched through the composition of white lead and
plaster of paris, wood, metal, or other substance directed to be used for that
purpose, I lay or fix on those parts of the mould required to be heightened for
the purpose of obtaining a corresponding depression on the east or impression to

page_text: be taken from it, with any convenient or suitable instrument,-modeller's clay
or other fine earth or composition to the height required, taking care not to
injure or interfere with the design or pattern which has been drawn, cut;:or
executed on the mould or composition. Or. the heightening matter; may. be
laid on in the following manner Mix chalk, white lead, or any similar
substance with water as thick as can be conveniently laid on with a brush, 'and
apply this composition or mixture to those parts. of the mould.which require to.
be raised. When this last-mentioned mixture is to be applied to, the layer or
composition of white lead.and plaster of paris, to facilitate the operation, the
mould or design drawn on the plate and layer of composition may be first
carefully and slightly oiled. In order to prepare the moulds for the operation
of casting, they must always be perfectly dried, which may be effected either
by allowing them to. dry gradually or baking them: These moulds may be
cast, stamped, or moulded in metal, papier-maché, or other substances.now.in
use for obtaining cast of fine work for ornamental. or other. purposes capable
of being cast, stamped, or moulded, and receiving a sharp and clear impression
from the mould, and-at the same time sufficiently hard for the purposes 'of
printing. As there is no new-feature in the method of. obtaining.a cast. from
my moulds, I do not consider it necessary to describe the process of casting,
stamping, or moulding, as they may be cast by any of the usual methods
employed for fine casting, and known to practical men acquainted with the
subject; but for casting fine work, similar to wood engravings, I prefer the
method. made use of in the process of steriotyping or casting from moulds
taken in plaster of paris from original wood engravings. I likewise make use
of the same metal or composition used for that purpose. Casts may also be.
formed by placing the mould in any convenient box.or form, and pouring
suitable metal into the mould or design. The back of the plate is to be turned.
even in a lathe and mounted on wood, in the manner of steriotype casts from.
wood engravings or letter-press. When the plates or reliefs are to be applied.
to cylinders the metal or substance on which the mould is formed should have
a circular or curved form, corresponding with the circumference of the
cylinder on which the plate of metal or relief. is to be fixed, or the plate:
may be cast level, and the required circular direction given by pressure:
In witness whereof, I, the said Godfrey Woone, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Eleventh day of December, in 'the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.
...GODFREY (L.s.) WOONE..

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eleventh day of December,
in the year of our Lord 1837, the aforesaid Godfrey Woone came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, 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.
T
Inrolled the Eleventh day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.