VARIOUS ENGINES FOR THE MORE EXPEDITIOUSLY FORMING A GREAT VARIETY OF VESSELS AND UTENSILS OF IRON, AND FOR PLANISHING AND BURNISHING THE SAME WHEN TINNED, PROPER AND NECESSARY FOR THE PREPARATION AND USE OF FOOD FOR HIS MAJESTY'S SUB- JECTS
Year: 1776

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BROWNE, of Lannedy Forrest, in the. County of Carmarthen, South Wales,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by.
His Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
the Twenty-fifth day of November, in the seventeenth year of His reign,
give and grant unto me, the said John Browne, His especial licence that I,
the said John Browne, during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "VARIOUS ENGINES FOR THE MORE
EXPEDITIOUSLY FORMING A GREAT VARIETY OF VESSELS AND UTENSILS OF IRON,
AND FOR PLANISHING AND BURNISHING THE SAME WHEN TINNED, PROPER AND
NECESSARY FOR THE PREPARATION AND USE OF FOOD FOR HIS MAJESTY'S SUB-
JECTS;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a provisoe, obliging
me, the said John Browne, under my hand and seal, to cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and how the same is to be
performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
four calender months after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same (relation being thereunto had) may more fully and at large
.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said provisoe, 1, the said
John Browne, do hereby declare that my said Invention of various Engines
for the more expeditiously Forming a great Variety of Vessels and Utensils of
Iron, and for Planishing and Burnishing the same when Tinned, proper and
necessary for the Preparation and Use of Food for His Majesty's Subjects, is
described in the manner following; that is to say:-
An oven is made five feet eight inches long, eighteen inches high, and
eighteen inches wide in the clear; this oven is made and kept red hot by two
furnaces under it, which communicate with each other, and compass the oven
quite round with their flues, which at the far end of the oven is constructed
into a funnel or chimney ten inches square in the clear, and continued thirty-
eight feet in length, in order to raise the heat of the fire sufficient to
make the oven and its contents red hot without the addition of any fuel in its
inside. This oven is made of fine brick and clay, which, by burning, are
cemented together, and is fixed in a room, divided from the shop where the
goods are stamped by a partition wall, through which the mouth of the oven
opens to the shop exactly opposite to the stamping frame, which is constructed
as followeth A piece of timber called the sleeping block, five feet eight
inches long, one foot eight inches wide, and eighteen inches thick, is sunk and
fixed nine inches within the ground upon a solid brickwork; in the middle
of this block are fixed two upright paralel posts ten feet five inches long, six
inches and a half broad, and five inches thick, having a space of twenty
inches betwixt their two faces. Two other posts are fixed in the same block
paralel to the two first, one seven inches and an half distant from the first, the
other twelve inches from the second; all those four posts being fastened in
one cross piece of timber and stayed at the top. In the middle of the faces of
the two first posts are sunk a groove, half an inch deep and one inch and a
quarter in width from the bottom to the top. In each of those grooves is
fitted a slip of smooth hard wood, one inch and a quarter broad, and one inch
thick, and ten feet high from the bottom; three feet four inches from the
upper end, and by the side of each of those slips is fastened a spring eighteen
inches long, having a shoulder and square arm six inches long, which arm
passes through a hole in the post, the lower end of the spring being fitted in a
groove, and the shoulder of the upper end projecting near an inch before it.
At the point of each arm is fixed a double crank; the cranks of both arms
are joyned by a small rod of iron, from the middle of which a trigger pro-
jecteth, and to that is suspended a light chain to within two feet of the
sleeping block. A piece of timber called the falling block, in length threc
feet, wide twenty-two inches by nineteen, braced with iron round both ends,

page_text: having a staple in the uppermost end for fixing a rope; this block is bored
with several holes, which are filled with lead and nailed up. A groove is made
in each of its sides answering the slips in the posts, betwixt which it is drawn
up by a rope fastned in the staple and winded upon a roll having a swape at
each end, and turned by two men; this roll is fixed in the furnace room, and
the rope passes through a hole in the wall and over a small roll fixed on the
post. In the center of the lower end of the falling block is fitted a square
socket of iron ten inches long and two inches and an half square. There are
two dies prepared for forming every different species of goods that are wider
above than below, and four dies for forming every species of goods which are
wider below than above, because those last are formed in two halves, which are
afterwards dovetailed and soldered together. The dies are made of cast iron.
The convex or falling dies are made with a shank to fit the socket, as men-
tioned above, to which they are made fast by two flat bolts which pass through
the block, the socket, and the shank. The concave dies are made flat under-
neath, and fastned on the sleeping block by four skrews. Three moveable pins
are fixed, one on each side, and a third behind the die, in order to prevent the
plates settling improperly upon the die when they are conveyed to it from the
oven, which is done very swiftly by being slid upon a smooth iron frame, one
end of which is fixed at the mouth of the oven, the other close to the edge of
the die. The plates are cut in squares proportioned in their size to that of
the goods intended to be made, and made red hot in the oven, from whence
one at a time is slid quickly upon the die, when a person who sits behind the
dye pulls the trigger by the chain, and the block instantly falls and strikes the
impression. So soon as the men at the bell perceive the stroke they wind up
the block, which is catched and suspended on the springs till let fall again
upon a plate. The third and fourth posts, mentioned to be in the stamping
frame, are made exactly in the form and worked in the same manner, except
that one man can raise their blocks, the heaviest being no more than two
hundred weight, whereas the great one described is four. Those small ones
are for stamping light goods, such as spoons, cups, &c. The handles of: spoons
and other goods, as also the feet or stands of all the goods, are made from rod
iron, heated in a common furnace, and shaped by being beat whils very hot
upon their respective moulds, which are all made of steel and hardened.
Those handles and feet are afterwards rivetted to the goods and soldered. The
vessels being thus formed, they are prepared and tinned after the common
method, after which they are planished, such as require it, by hammers, which
are raised by spokes fitted in an horizontal shaft eighteen feet long, which is
turned by a water wheel. Under each hammer is placed an anvil adapted to

page_text: the sort of goods to be planished, upon which a person holds and turns the
piece to the stroke of the hammer, which, being raised against a spring fitted
to a bolt above it, is repelled with proper smartness when the spoke has passed
from it. Twelve such hammers are wrought by the same power, and all the
twelve can be wrought at the same time. The goods are afterwards burnished
in a lath, which finisheth the operation.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Browne, have hereunto sett my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of March, One thousand seven hundred

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BROWNE, of Lannedy Forrest, in the County of Carmarthen, South Wales,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
the Twenty-fifth day of November, in the seventeenth year of His reign,
give and grant unto me, the said John Browne, His especial licence that I,
the said John Browne, during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "VARIOUS ENGINES FOR THE MORE
EXPEDITIOUSLY FORMING A GREAT VARIETY OF VESSELS AND UTENSILS OF IRON,
AND FOR PLANISHING AND BURNISHING THE SAME WHEN TINNED, PROPER AND
NECESSARY FOR THE PREPARATION AND USE OF FOOD FOR HIS MAJESTY'S SUB-
JECTS;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a provisoe, obliging
me, the said John Browne, under my hand and seal, to cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and how the same is to be
performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
four calender months after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same (relation being thereunto had) may more fully and at large
annear

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said provisoc, I, the said
John Browne, do hereby declare that my said Invention of various Engines
for the more expeditiously Forming a great Variety of Vessels and Utensils of
Iron, and for Planishing and Burnishing the same when Tinned, proper and
necessary for the Preparation and Use of Food for His Majesty's Subjects, is
described in the manner following; that is to say:-
An oven is made five feet eight inches long, eighteen inches high, and
eighteen inches wide in the clear; this oven is made and kept red hot by two
furnaces under it, which communicate with each other, and compass the oven
quite round with their flues, which at the far end of the oven is constructed
into a funnel or chimney ten inches square in the clear, and continued thirty-
eight feet in length, in order to raise the heat of the fire sufficient to
mako the oven and its contents red hot without the addition of any fuel in its
inside. This oven is made of fine brick and clay, which, by burning, are
cemented together, and is fixed in a room, divided from the shop where the
goods are stamped by a partition wall, through which the mouth of the oven
opens to the shop exactly opposite to the stamping fraine, which is constructed
as followeth -A piece of timber called the sleeping block, five feet eight
inches long, one foot eight inches wide, and eighteen inches thick, is sunk and
fixed nine inches within the ground upon a solid brickwork; in the middle
of this block are fixed two upright paralel posts ten feet five inches long, six
inches and a half broad, and five inches thick, having a space of twenty
inches betwixt their two faces. Two other posts are fixed in the same block
paralel to the two first, one seven inches and an half distant from the first, the
other twelve inches from the second; all those four posts being fastened in
one cross piece of timber and stayed at the top. In the middle of the faces of
the two first posts are sunk a groove, half an inch deep and one inch and a
quarter in width from the bottom to the top. In each of those grooves is
fitted a slip of smooth hard wood. one inch and a quarter broad, and one inch
thick, and ten feet high from the botton; three fect four inches from the
upper end, and by the side of each of those slips is fastened a spring eighteen
inches long, having a shoulder and square arm six inches long, which arm
passes through a hole in the post, the lower end of the spring being fitted in a
groove, and the shoulder of the upper end projecting near an inch before it.
At the point of each arm is fixed a double crank; the cranks of both arms
are joyned by a small rod of iron, from the middle of which a trigger pro-
jecteth, and to that is suspended a light chain to within two feet of the
sleeping block. A piece of timber called the falling block, in length three
feet, wide twenty-two inches by nineteen, braced with iron round both end
S.

page_text: having a staple in the uppermost end for fixing a rope; this block is bored
with several holes, which are filled with lead and nailed up. A groove is made
in each of its sides answering the slips in the posts, betwixt which it is drawn
up by a rope fastned in the staple and winded upon a roll having a swape at
cach end, aud turned by two men; this roll is fixed in the furnace room, and
the rope passes through a hole in the wall and over a small roll fixed on the
post. In the center of the lower end of the falling block is fitted a square
socket of iron ten inches long and two inches and an half square. There are
two dies prepared for forming every different species of goods that are wider
above than below, and four dies for forming every species of goods which are
wider below than above, because those last are formed in two halves, which are
afterwards dovetailed and soldered together. The dies are made of cast iron.
The convex or falling dies are made with a shank to fit the socket, as men
tioned above, to which they are made fast by two flat bolts which pass through
the block, the socket, and the shank. The concave dies are made flat under-
neath, and fastned on the sleeping block by four skrews. Three moveable pins
are fixed, one on each side, and a third behind the die, in order to prevent the
plates settling improperly upon the die when they are conveyed to it from the
oven, which is done very swiftly by being slid upon a smooth iron frame, one
end of which is fixed at the mouth of the oven, the other close to the edge of
the dic. The plates are cut in squares proportioned in their size to that of
the goods intended to be made, and made red hot in the oven, from whence
one at a time is slid quickly upon the die, when a person who sits behind the
dye pulls the trigger by the chain, and the block instantly falls and strikes the
impression. So soon as the men at the bell perceive the stroke they wind up
the block, which is catched and suspended on the springs till let fall again
upon a plate. The third and fourth posts, mentioned to be in the stamping
frame, are made exactly in the form and worked in the same manner, except
that one man can raise their blocks, the heaviest being no more than two
hundred weight, whereas the great one described is four. Those small ones
are for stamping light goods, such as spoons, cups, &c. The handles of spoons
and other goods, as also the feet or stands of all the goods, are made from rod
iron, heated in a common furnace, and shaped by being beat whils very hot
upon their respective moulds, which are all made of steel and hardened.
Those handles and feet are afterwards rivetted to the goods and soldered. The
vessels being thus formed, they are prepared and tinned after the common
method, after which they are planished, such as require it, by hammers, which
are raised by spokes fitted in au horizontal shaft eighteen feet long, which is
turned by a water wheel. Under each hammer is placed an anvil adapted to

page_text: the sort of goods to be planished, upon which a person holds and turns the
piece to the stroke of the hammer, which, being raised against a spring fitted
to a bolt above it, is repelled with proper smartness when the spoke has passed
from it. Twelve such hammers are wrought by the same power, and all the
twelve can be wrought at the same time. The goods are afterwards burnished
in a lath, which finisheth the operation.
T
year last above mentioned, the aforesaid John Browne came before cur said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification of the
Invention aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in
form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stampt according
to the tenor of the Statute made in the sixth year of the reign of the late King
and Queen William and Mary of England, and so forth.
Inrolled the Fifteenth day of March, in the seventeenth year of the reign
of King George the Third.