A COMPOSITION OR COMBINATION OF MATERIALS FOR SHEATHING, PAINTING, OR PRESERVING SHIPS' BOTTOMS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1831

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Baron
CHARLES WETTERSTEDT, of the Whitechapel Road, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Sixth day of July, in the second year of His reign, did, for
Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Baron
Charles Wetterstedt, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Baron Charles Wetterstedt, my exors, adññiors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Baron Charles Wetterstedt, my exors,
adiñors, or assigns, should at any 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 England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all His Majesty's Colonies
and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "A COMPOSITION OR COMBINATION OF
MATERIALS FOR SHEATHING, PAINTING, OR PRESERVING SHIPS' BOTTOMS, AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I,
the said Baron Charles Wetterstedt, shall cause a particular description of
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Baron Charles Wetterstedt, do hereby declare the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof (that is
to say)-
My Invention of a composition or combination of materials for sheathing,
painting, or preserving ships' bottoms, and other purposes, consists in mixing
regulus, antimoni, or antominy metal with lead in certain proportions, and
thereby producing a composition which when prepared in manner hereafter
described becomes suitable for the covering of ships and other purposes.
In order fully to carry my Invention into effect, I will now describe the
manner I have persued in making my composition :-I take one hundred
parts of lead and melt it with from threo to ten per cent. of antimony metal
in cast-iron pots or other vessels, and during fusion the mixture is to be well
stirred and skimmed. This mixture is then to be poured into cast-iron
moulds, which will vary in size according to the purposes to which the com-
position is to be applied. When it is intended for the sheathing of ships I
prefer that they should be about sixteen inches by eight and half inches by
half an inch thick. These plates so cast are to be past through flatting rollers
for the purpose of flatting and elongating them into sheets of about thirty-four
inches long by sixteen inches wide. These sheets are to be divided crossways
into two equal parts, and I then rub or paint these sheets on both sides with
the following mixture or amalgama, consisting of about two parts of lead
melted with one part of antimony metal, and when in a fusible state and
are well blended and skimmed I permit the same to cool down till tho
particles are about to set or become fixed, yet sufficiently liquid to adinit
of being stirred; I then pour into the vessel which contains such mixturo
about seventeen parts of quicksilver, heated to about 300° to 400° of Farenheit,
stirring the whole well together to produce a perfect mixing or amalgama-
tion of the parts, such amalgama being continued to be stirred till it has cooled
down, when it will be in a consistency of honey. This mixture so prepared is
then to be well rubbed or painted over the two surfaces of the sheets before
described; the sheets so prepared are then to be again passed through the
flatting rollers till they become into sheets of fifty-two to fifty-eight inches long
by sixteen inches wide; 1 then prefer to pass these plates between rollers in au
opposite direction to that which they have before been passed for the purpose
of planishing them. These sheets are to have their edges cutt off, and are
then ready for use; and I prefer that these sheets so prepared should be
applied to the ship's bottom by means of copper nails, but do not confine

page_text: myself thereto. In some instances I omit the preparing of the sheets by the
mixture of lead, antimony, and quicksilver, but the sheets in that case are not
so durable as when prepared, and in most cases where the sheets or sheathings
are applied to covering for household purposes I omit the application of the
quicksilver amalgama; and I do further make use of the dross or matters
skimmed off such composition, as above described, or skimmed off from melted
lead when prepared in the following manner:-to the painting or covering of
wood, metal, or other materials for the purpose of preserving them from decay
by the action of the atmosphere or wet, I take equal parts of finely sifted
dross and sulphur and melt them together with as little heat as possible to
prevent the sulphur taking fire; this mixture when cold and pulverized is to
be laid on to the surface of the wood, metal, or other material by the aid of a
flat hot iron, or by heating the materials on which it is to be laid, avoiding
having sufficient heat to set fire to the sulphur. I would here observe, that
although I have described the sheets to be of certain sizes, it is evident that
the same may be made of any other size to suit the purpose to which they are
to be applied; and I do declare that my reason for confining myself to the pro-
portions of from three to ten parts of antimony metal to one hundred parts of
lead is, that beyond ten to one hundred the composition becomes too brittle,
and less than three to one hundred is too small a quantity to produce the
desirable effect.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner which
I conceive best for carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood
that what I claim as my Invention is, the producing of a composition of lead
and antimony metal in the proportions above described and applying the
same to the sheathing of ships and other purposes, whether the sheets of such
composition be prepared by the quicksilver amalgama or not, as above
described.
And, secondly, I claim the preparing of the mixture or composition from the
dross or skimmings of melted lead with sulphur, as above described, for the
purpose of painting or covering wood, metal, and other materials, which are
exposed to wet or damp places, for the purpose of preserving them.
In witness whereof, I, the said Baron Charles Wetterstedt, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-two.
CHARLES (L.B.) WETTERSTEDT.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixth day of January, in the
year of our Lord 1832, the aforesaid Charles Wetterstedt came before our
said Lord the King in His 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.
Inrolled the Sixth day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and thirty-two.