IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL STONE
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ephraim Sabel, of Moorgate Street, in the City of
London, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL STONE."-A communication from abroad by Joseph
Sépulchre, of Huy, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Cultivator.
Sealed the 14th July 1863, and dated the 19th January 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ephraim Sabel' at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th January 1863.
I, EPHRAIM SABEL, of Moorgate Street, in the City of London, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL STONE," communicated to me from abroad by
Joseph Sépulchre, of Huy, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Cultivator, to be
as follows:-
By this Invention divers fusible silicates produced in various metallurgical
operations are converted into a substance analogous to porphyry, but which
may be better denominated artificial stone, as it will represent that material
for building and other purposes too numerous to catalogue. It will be
sufficient in this Provisional Specification to describe the means by which
"slags," the cinder or scoria refuse of iron and other furnaces, are treated to
render them useful as representative of stone, or stony substances, marble,

page_text: porphyry, or other. These slags are, under this Invention, either remelted or
run directly from the furnaces in which they are produced. In either case
the molten mass is run into pits (of uncertain or varying capacity); these pits
are sunk in the ground with their sides inclining, say, some thirty degrees
outwards, which gives the pit a much greater area at the top or mouth than
at the bottom, so allowing the upper crust of partially solidified matter to rise
and be removed from time to time. The slag or scoria is taken direct from
the furnace into the pit until the latter is entirely filled, and care should be
taken by sufficiently heating the conduits to maintain the liquidity of the
flowing scoria, so as to assure homogenity in the mass collected in the pit.
Previous to running the melted scoria into the pit, moulds or forms of sand or
other suitable moulding material encased in metallic frames should be prepared
and placed either in the pits or in immediate contact therewith, the said mould
casings being previously (by any ordinary means) brought up to a red heat.
The liquid scoria (slag) being allowed to run into the moulds, blocks, slabs, or
other forms may be produced. The pit and moulds being filled, the mass is
permitted to cool gradually, and the product of the operation herein-before
detailed is a substance possessing the properties of stone, and eminently
adapted for use in building, for paving, and from its homogenous texture, and
its hardness, for millstones, grindstones, and other purposes to. which hard
stone is usually applicable.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Ephraim Sabel in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th July 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EPHRAIM
SABEL, of Moorgate Street, in the City of London, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Ephraim Sabel, Her special licence, that I, the said Ephraim Sabel,
my executors,.administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Ephraim
Sabel, 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,

page_text: and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL STONE," (a communication to me from abroad by
Joseph Sépulchre, of Huy, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Cultivator,) upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Ephraim Sabel, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Ephraim Sabel, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
⚫ In various metallurgical processes a residuum is obtained under the form of
slag scoria, or blast furnace cinder, which are combinations of silica with lime,
alumina, oxyd of iron, and other substances in minor proportion. The quantity
of these matters produced, more particularly in the manufacture of iron, is
very considerable, the proportion of blast furnace cinder produced in the
process of extraction of iron from its ores being about fifty per cent. greater
than that of the iron itself; these matters have been hitherto not only almost
valueless, but in many cases a very considerable expense has to be incurred
for their removal. By this Invention, however, blast furnace cinder and other
description of molten slag is by a simple and practicable process converted
into an artificial stone, possessing properties valuable either for building
material, for paving and macadamizing, for millstones, grindstones, and in
general for all purposes to which a hard, close-grained, homogeneous, non-.
absorbent stone, which can without difficulty be sculptured, hewn, and cut can
be applied. Although applicable to the different descriptions of slags produced
in divers metallurgical operations, this process is more especially applicable
with success to the conversion of blast furnace slag into artificial porphyry,
either by remelting old cinder, or by using the fluid slag as it runs from a
working furnace.. In either case the liquid slag is allowed to run by conduit
or gutter into a pit or pits of varying capacity, and sunk in the ground, these
pits having their side inclining, say, at an angle of thirty degrees from the
bottom outwards, in such manner that the pit is of much greater area at the
top than at the bottom, by this means the adherence of the partially solidified
crust to the sides of the pit is prevented, the crust generally rising by itself,

page_text: and being raised whenever the occasion requires, and from time to time by
means of iron bars, or other suitable utensils. The dimensions of the pits will
naturally be made to vary according to the form and dimensions of the blocks
required. When these are intended for cutting up into paving stones, the
dimensions of three to four feet in depth, and eight to ten feet in diameter at
the top, have been found to answer well. The melted slag should be allowed to
run into the pits in an uninterrupted stream, rather abundant at the com-
mencement of the operation; they may be filled up by a slower but continuous
current of the fluid slag. Thus in the case of blast furnace slag direct from.
the furnace, a certain quantity should first be allowed to accumulate in the
furnace, and when this has run into the pit it will suffice to allow the fluid
cinder to continue running as the fluid is produced, consistence of the mass
being thereby maintained until the pit is entirely filled. Care must be taken
to maintain the slag in a proper state of fluidity, and all parts which become
partially or completely solidified on the way to the pit along the sides of the
gutters must be removed, so as to prevent the mixture of pasty or solid;
matters, and to produce a bath of perfectly fluid and homogeneous slag under:
the crust which covers it, and which has been raised or removed from the
sides of the pit from time to time, as aforesaid. When it is required to obtain
stones moulded or cast into a required form, this may be accomplished by
placing beforehand, either in the pits or in immediate proximity therewith,
forms of sand or other suitable moulding material contained in metallic
frames which have been previously raised to a red heat, and allowing the
molten slag to fill the moulds at once, by allowing it to enter the moulds only
when the pit contains a sufficient quantity of melted slag. The pits and
moulds being entirely filled, the mass therein is allowed to cool down slowly,
and without being disturbed or removed, five to ten days, or more, being
necessary for this purpose, according to the dimensions of the blocks. The
cooled blocks are extracted and quarried, or worked in the usual manner of
working natural stone, according to the form and nature of the object it is
required to produce. In operating in the manner above described (and more
particularly when blast furnace slag is employed) a hard homogeneous stone
is produced, applicable to all the purposes above mentioned. This artificial
stone, which may be called "artificial porphyry," is worked without difficulty,
resists abrasion, is impenetrable to moisture, and presents a very considerable
degree of resistance to heat.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as the

page_text: Invention communicated to me as aforesaid, the manufacture of an artificial
stone by running molten cinder into large pits or moulds prepared for its
reception, in the manner above detailed, and in allowing the masses thus
obtained to cool gradually, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ephraim Sabel, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
EPHRAIM SABEL. (L.S.)