A NEW METALLIC ZINC PAINT.
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Webster, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Engineer, for the Invention of "A NEW METALLIC ZINC PAINT.".
Sealed the 20th December 1867, and dated the 25th June 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Webster at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th June 1867.
I, JAMES WEBSTER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW METALLIC ZINC
PAINT," to be as follows:-
I take spelter, and melt it in a suitable furnace, and raise it to about
800 degrees Fahrenheit; I then cover the molten metal with a flux. of. borax
mixed with caustic of soda or chloride of ammonia, or other suitable flux to
prevent the action of the atmosphere upon the surface of the molten zine; I
then add thereto about 7 or 8 per cent., or more or less, of finely divided
iron wire or scrap, agitating the whole with an iron rod until the whole of
the iron or scrap particles are taken up by the zinc; I then add sufficient
antimony to cause the metal to run freely from the furnace; when the
metal thus prepared has cooled down it is next pulverized and ground, when
it, may be mixed with any oleaginous matter or varnish, and the, metallic zinc

page_text: paint results. When the paint is intended to be used for coating ships'
bottoms or marine purposes I add thereto 1 per cent. or thereabouts of
vermillion or oxide of mercury.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Webster in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th December 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WEBSTER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
James Webster, Her special licence that I, the said James Webster, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Webster, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any tinię
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 "A NEW METALLIC
ZINC PAINT," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James
Webster, 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 James Webster, do hereby declare
the nature of my
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:-
I take spelter, and melt it in a suitable furnace, and raise it to about 800
degrees Fahrenheit; then cover the molten metal with a flux of borax
mixed with caustic of soda or chloride of amonia, or other suitable flux to:
prevent the action of the atmosphere upon the surface of the molten zinc ; I
then add thereto about seven or eight per cent. (or more or less) of finely

page_text: divided iron wire or scrap, agitating the whole with an iron rod until the
whole of the iron or scrap particles are taken up by the zine; I then add
sufficient antimony to cause the metal to run freely from the furnace. When
the metal thus prepared has cooled down it is next pulverized and ground,
when it may be mixed with any oleaginous. matter or varnish, and the metallic
zinc paint results. When the paint is intended to be used for coating ships
bottoms or marine purposes I add thereto one and a half per cent. or there-
abouts of vermillion or oxide of mercury.
I now proceed to describe the mode of operating my Invention more
particularly. I take spelter or zinc dross and melt them in a crucible, by
preference made of fire-clay, the crucible being furnished, with a lid or
stopper made of the same material. When the metal zinc or zinc dross
reaches the fusing point I add to the molten metal eleven to twelve per
cent. by weight of wrought-iron scrap, by preference wrought-iron turnings
or fine wrought-iron wire, taking care to first dip the wrought-iron scrap used
into boiling chloride of zinc and chloride of ammonia, the proportion of the
chloride of ammonia being about ten per cent. of the chloride of zinc; I
prefer to keep the wrought-iron scrap used from becoming oxidised, before
reaching the molten metal zinc or zinc dross, and to assist the combination
of the metals employed, and to form a flux with borax, which latter material
I prefer to keep upon the surface of the molten metal, zinc or zinc dross
while in the crucible to prevent evaporation of the zinc or zinc dross while it
is kept at the fusing point. The wrought-iron scrap should be stirred; about
in the molten zinc or zinc dross until the whole of the wrought-iron scrap is
combined or dissolved in the molten zinc or zinc dross; I then add about two
per cent. of regulus of antimony, which will mix with and cause the metal to
run freely from the crucible; the molten metal or alloy may then be run
into ingots or other molds of any shape required for the different purposes
for which the metal may be required, such as lamp wicks, porous blocks for
refining purposes (such as refining oil, sugar, spirits, or filtering water or
other liquids) or for condensing or purifying gas, or analagous purposes where
porous metal is required. If the metal or alloy be required for paint or
cement it may be pounded and put through a sieve of a suitable mesh,
according to the purpose for which the cement may be required. If used for
paint it will be necessary to grind the metal or alloy in a paint mill with
oil or spirits, but I prefer grinding the metal or alloy with water and acetic
acid in about equal proportions; I then allow the ground metal or alloy to
stand for six or seven days in a wrought-iron or other vat to ferment or
oxidize; I then dry the ground metal or alloy and mix with it twelve to

page_text: fourteen per cent. of boiled oil, and ten per cent. of white lead, and seventeen
to eighteen per cent. of sulphate of barytees; I then grind the whole mixture
through a paint or other mill with oil or spirits, and add the coloring matter
thereto, as the nature of the paint and color, to be produced may require.
The paint may be applied with ordinary brushes; for coating ironwork the
paint may be heated and put on hot.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it, understood, that I do not confine myself
to the precise details, so long as the peculiar character of each part of my
Invention be retained, what I more particularly claim is,―
First, the improvements in mixing the alloy of zinc, iron, and antimony as
herein described for the manufacture of metallic zinc paint or cement.
Secondly, I claim the above alloys for purposes herein above mentioned.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Webster, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
JAMES WEBSTER. (L.S.)
JAMES WEBSTER. (L.S.)