Improvements relating to the Manufacture and Treatment of Iron and Steel, and to Compounds for use therein.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 10th June, 1890-Accepted, 12th July, 1850
[Communicated from abroad by JOHN DICKMAN BROWN, of 120, West 52nd Street,
New York, United States of America, Merchant.]
Improvements relating to the Manufacture and Treatment of Iron
and Steel, and to Compounds for use therein.
1, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45 Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention is an improved compound for use in the manufacture and working
of iron and steel, and a process of manufacturing steel and iron by the use of the
same.
The compound is made up as follows: Borax, thirty-three parts, pumice-stone
eight parts, salt one part, sal-ammoniac three parts, dolomite one part, and spathic
iron ore one part, proportions by weight.
The above named substances when combined in substantially the proportions stated,
produce a valuable and most effective compound for welding, toughening and refining
iron and steel, but the invention is not limited to the exact proportions of the several
ingredients given, as these may be considerably varied in making up compounds
which produce results of the same general character.
To produce this compound, the component elements are thoroughly dried, either
together or separately, and mixed together as perfectly as possible and pulverized by
grinding or otherwise, in which condition the material is put up in suitable quantities
or packages, as may be best adapted to the uses to which the material is to be
applied.
This compound may be used in the same manner and for the same purposes as other
so-called "welding compounds" heretofore made, that is to say, a given quantity of
the powder may be sprinkled upon the surface of the iron or steel to be welded,
worked or forged, while the latter is red hot, or at a sufficiently high temperature to
absorb the compound. It may also be added to soft or rain water and the solution
used for tempering steel, or case hardening iron or steel that has not been previously
treated with the compound.
Another and more important use, is in manufacturing a high grade steel by adding
to or associating with the steel while in a molten state a given quantity of the
compound. In any and all of the above applications very beneficial results follow
from the use of this compound.
While the true action upon the metal of this compound, or the functions which
each element performs may not be precisely given, it may be stated that the observed
results are superior to those obtainable by the use of other like compounds, and that
the apparent chemical and mechanical effects of the several ingredients, are directly
traceable to the following characteristics of the same. Dolomite and spathic iron ore
possess peculiar qualities for toughening and refining iron and steel. Pumice stone
and borax are strong welding agents, while sal-ammoniac and salt are cleansing
agents, and give iron or steel a clean surface and also assist in hardening the same.
Moreover, pumice stone, borax, dolomite and spathic iron ore are all strong fluxing
agents and refine iron or steel.
Experience has demonstrated the correctness of these conclusions from the effects
observed in the use of certain known equivalents for some of the above ingredients;
for example, there may be employed in place of the spathic iron ore the ordinary
venetian red of commerce or carbonate of iron generally.
In lieu of dolomite
ordinary lime-stone may be used, and "silica sand or any of its compounds in the
form of silicates may be substituted for the pumice stone.

page_text: The elements which seem to be indispensable are the borax, sal-ammoniac, pumice
stone and dolomite, or their described equivalents; for in place of the salt an
equivalent proportion of sal-ammoniac may be used, and carbonate of iron or spathic
iron ore may be replaced by its equivalent of dolomite.
Welding compounds have been produced containing sal-ammoniac, borax and
carbonate of iron, but such compounds do not produce, either alone or in conjunction
with other substances which have been combined with them, as good results as that
above described.
Compounds of this nature have usually been applied to the metal in its finished
state or during the final steps of working, forging or tempering the same. Greatly
improved results, however, will be obtained by adding to the metal while in a molten
state, in either an open hearth furnace or converter or crucible after the metal has
been reduced to a molten state and the lid removed, a compound of this general
character.
In the treatment of iron and steel by these compounds, to the metal while in a
molten state, is added a small quantity of the compound named, the proportion being
varied according to the quality of the metal and the character of the results to be
obtained, as will be readily ascertained by experiments.
The compound may be associated or combined with the molten metal in any well-
known way, as by introducing it into the converter, or by causing it to combine with
the molten mass by means similar to those employed in the now well known treatment
of stee! by silica..
By this process there may be produced at approximately the cost of ordinary iron
or steel, a remarkably fine, tough and high grade metal well adapted to the manu-
facture of all tools and other like articles.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent I declare that what I claim is :-
First. A compound for treating iron and steel and containing borax, pumice stone,
sal-ammoniac, and dolomite or their described equivalents, in substantially, the
proportions set forth.
Second. A compound for treating iron and steel, composed of borax, pumice stone,
salt, sal-ammoniac, dolomite, and spathic iron ore or their described equivalents, as
set forth.
Third. The improvement in the manufacture of iron and steel, which consists in
associating with the metal in the manner described, a compound containing borax,
sal-ammoniac and the fluxing agents herein specified.
Dated this 10th day of June 1940
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
15, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.