IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Marius Macrum, of Hill Street, Knightsbridge,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON."-A communication from abroad by
John Williams and Josiah Copley, both of Allegheny City, in the State
of Pennsylvania, in the United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Marius Macrum
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 7th July 1865.
I, JAMES MARIUS MACRUM, of Hill Street, Knightsbridge, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON," a communication to me from
abroad by John Williams and Josiah Copley, both of Allegheny City, in the
State of Pennsylvania, in the United States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar manufacture of wrought iron, whereby
a metal of a superior quality is obtained, and consists in mixing with each
charge of melted iron in the puddling furnace certain of the herein-after
mentioned ingredients to the desired nature of the wrought iron to be produced,
and in manipulating the furnace during the period of such admixture in
the manner berein-after described.

page_text: The ingredients referred to are as follows:-Oxyde of lead, sulphate of
copper, manganese, common salt of commerce, sulphuric acid, potash, lime,
borax and water. The puddling furnace may be of the usual description, but
its depth from the "fore plate" to the "bottom plate" should be about 2
inches more than the ordinary depth; say about 10 inches.
In making a strong, soft, and smooth working iron according to this
Invention, a charge of, say, 480 pounds of pig iron is first melted in the
puddling furnace, and so soon as the iron is melted the chimney damper is
closed and about 1 pound of protoxide of lead is thrown on to the melted
metal and well stirred therein for the space of about 5 minutes. Should the
metal commence to boil suddenly, a few more ounces of the protoxide of lead
should be thrown in, which will check in a measure the boiling of the metal.
1 pound of the sulphate of copper is next added, and well stirred in for five
minutes, after which at intervals of five minutes, and with constant stirring,
the following ingredients in the proportions given are severally added, viz.,
1 pound of the black oxide of manganese and 30 ounces of common salt;
the damper is then to be raised and the boiling or puddling is continued until
the iron commences to sink, whereupon the damper is to be lowered again to
within a few links of being closed, in which position it remains until the iron
is ready for being drawn off and worked in the usual way.
When a strong, tough, and hard iron is required, the following compound
is added in small quantities at a time to the above charge of melted metal in
the furnace, viz., 1 pound of sulphuric acid diluted with 1 quart of water,
and in which are dissolved 1 pound of sulphate of copper, 1 pound of black
oxide of manganese, 1 pound of peroxide of lead, quarter of a pound of borax,
and 30 ounces of common salt of commerce.
When an extra strong and hard iron is required, the following compound or
solution is added in small quantities at a time to the melted metal, viz.,
1 pound of sulphuric acid diluted with about 1 quart of water in which dilute
acid are dissolved, 1 pound of sulphate of copper, 1 pound of potash of
commerce, 1 pound of slacked lime, and 15 ounces of common salt of com-
anerce. The furnace is in all cases manipulated in the manner herein-before
described during the addition of the "physic" or ingredients above referred to.
The quantity of ingredients, the order of adding the same, and the condition
and manner of operating the furnace and mode of manipulating the iron
may all be somewhat modified in this discretion of the operation.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent. 'filed"
by the said James Marius Macrum in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th January 1866.
.1.
:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MARIUS MACRUM, of Hill Street, Knightsbridge, in the County of Middlesex,.
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters-
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of July, in the year. of our Lord One-
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her reign,.
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Marius Macrum, Her special license that I, the said James.
Marius Macrum, my executors, administrators, and assigns,, or such others as.
I, the said James Marius Macrum, my executors, administrators, or 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, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON," a communication to me from abroad,.
by John Williams and Josiah Copley, both of Allegheny City, in the State of
Pennsylvania, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said James Marius Macrum, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 James Marius Macrum, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner, the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the-
following statement, that is to say:—-
The said Invention relates to a peculiar manufacture of wrought iron
whereby a metal of a superior quality is obtained, and consists in mixing with
each charge of melted iron in the puddling furnace certain of the herein-after
mentioned ingredients according to the desired nature of the wrought iron to
be produced, and in manipulating the furnace during the period of such
admixture in the manner herein-after described.
The essential feature of this Invention consists in the use of sulphuric acid,
water, salt, lime, potash, sulphate of copper, protoxyd of lead, biborate of soda,

page_text: and manganese; said ingredients being prepared and mixed with melted cast
iron during the puddling or boiling process in the manner herein-after
described for the purpose of purifying, toughening, strengthening, and
imparting different degrees of hardness to the iron produced.
To enable others skilled in the art of puddling or boiling iron to use this
Invention, I will proceed to describe the manner of preparing the ingredients
used and the mode of using them. For making a hard, tough, and strong
iron, to each charge of about 480 lbs. of pig iron I add about,-

page_text: I pulverise and mix these ingredients well together and divide the whole
into three or four parts, and use this preparation in the dry condition.
I wish it to be clearly understood that the quantity of each ingredient
in the compounds herein described may be varied and a good result obtained;
therefore I do not confine myself to any precise quantity of any one ingredient
in any one of the compounds described.
In all those instances in which reference has been made to the employment
of potash, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to what is
known as potash in commerce, but I refer also to such residues as are
produced or result from calcination, fusion, or from the application of heat to
certain salts of potash, such for example as the nitrate of potash or saltpetre,
which as is well known is, when submitted to a high temperature, transformed
into potash or potassa; and I therefore wish it to be understood that in
carrying out my Invention that I employ either potash as is herein mentioned,
or such a corresponding amount of nitrate of potash or other salts of potash
as shall represent, when submitted to fusion or to a high temperature, a
corresponding amount of residue alkali.
I also wish it to be clearly understood that any known substitute or
equivalent for any one of the ingredients named may be used when so desired
without changing the condition and nature of the compounds or their effect
upon the iron in the puddling or boiling process, provided the compounds are
used and manipulated with the iron and furnace substantially as herein-after
described, therefore I claim the use of the ingredients herein named, their
substitutes and equivalents, when used for forming the compounds described.
And I also desire it to be clearly understood that any known mixture of
pig iron can and may be used in this process when desired, but the various
mixtures now known and used are not important to the success of the said
process or operation. I use the ordinary puddling or boiling furnace with all
its appendages and appliances, taking care, however, to have the depth of the
furnace from the "fore plate" to the bottom plate about ten inches. I pre-
pare the furnace with "felting" or "fix" (black ore), and I charge it with
about 480 lbs. of pig iron and about double the quantity of "cinder" usually
used in working off a "charge." I melt the pig iron in the ordinary furnace,
and when the iron is melted down I lower the damper so as to close the
furnace stack. I then take one part of the compound I propose to use, which
must be in accordance with the kind of iron desired; for example, I take one
part of the first preparation herein mentioned and throw it in on the melted
pig iron and mix and manipulate it with the iron for about five minutes. I
then take the second, third, and fourth parts of the said preparation and mix

page_text: and manipulate in the same manner as the first part, taking five minutes to
each part. In other words, I so divide each preparation herein set forth that
it will require about twenty minutes to mix and stir it well with the molten
iron. I then raise the damper of the stack and puddle and boil in the usual
manner, taking care, however, to puddle or boil "hot" until the iron com-
mences to "sink." I then lower the damper as far as the condition of the
iron and furnace will admit, taking care to work and manipulate the iron with
as low a degree of heat as possible until the iron is "ready;" I then draw
it off in the usual manner and work it in squeezers, rolls, or other apparatus
in the ordinary way; I then "charge" up the furnace again and proceed in the
manner described.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel und
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is, the application and use of the ingre-
dients herein named and of their substitutes or equivalents, also the mode of
using them, and the manner of operating the furnace substantially as and for
the purpose herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Marius Macrum, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, the Fifth day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
JAMES ME MACRIIM * {\
JAMES M. MACRUM.