A NEW METHOD OF PREPARING, MAKING, AND FINISHING METAL AND COMPOSITION BLOCKS, PLATES, ROLLERS,, TYPES, AND DIES, BY WHICH VARIOUS PATTERNS, DEVICES, AND COMPOSITIONS CAN BE EFFECTUALLY IMPRINTED AND IMPRESSED ON COTTON, LINEN, SILK,WORSTED, MOHAIR, AND WOOLLEN CLOTHS, (OR ANY FABRIC MADE OF A MIXTURE. OP ANY TWO OR MORE OF THEM,) ALSO ON PAPER, LEATHER, PORCELAIN, AND EARTHEN- WARE, AND BY WHICH THE SAME EPPECTS CAN BE PRODUCED IN A SHORTER TIME AND AT A CONSIDERABLE LESS EXPENCE THAN BY ANY OTHER METHOD NOW USED FOR THOSE- PURPOSES
Year: 1816

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL
CLAYTON, of Dublin, Artist, send greeting.
COME, 1,
BERT
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, by His
Letters Patent. under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Thirtieth day of September, in the fifty-sixth year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Robert Clayton, His especial licence that I, the said Robert Clayton, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert
Clayton, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time 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,
within all His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "A
NEW METHOD OF PREPARING, MAKING, AND FINISHING METAL AND COMPOSITION
BLOCKS, PLATES, ROLLERS,, TYPES, AND DIES, BY WHICH VARIOUS PATTERNS, DEVICES,
AND COMPOSITIONS CAN BE EFFECTUALLY IMPRINTED AND IMPRESSED ON COTTON, LINEN,
SILK, WORSTED, MOHAIR, AND WOOLLEN CLOTHS, (OR ANY FABRIC MADE OF A MIXTURE.
OP ANY TWO OR MORE OF THEM,) ALSO ON PAPER, LEATHER, PORCELAIN, AND EARTHEN-
WARE, AND BY WHICH THE SAME EPPECTS CAN BE PRODUCED IN A SHORTER TIME AND
AT A CONSIDERABLE LESS EXPENCE THAN BY ANY OTHER METHOD NOW USED FOR THOSE-
PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, obliging.
me, the said Robert Clayton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and

page_text: seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery in England within two calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto bad, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in pursuance of and compliance with the said
recited proviso, I, the said Robert Clayton, do hereby declare that a particular
and exact description of my Invention, and of the manner of making and using
the same, is herein-after contained, and is as follows:-
To accomplish the objects, and obtain the effects mentioned in the title of
my Patent, I, in the first place, etch or indent upon plates or rollers of zinc,
either in its pure metallic state or but slightly alloyed with lead, tin, or
other metals, by employing for that purpose solutions of metallic salts, here-
after to be described, instead of free acids; and I defend these parts intended
to remain untouched by following the mode generally practised by engravers
on copper, viz, covering them with common etching ground or varnish,
and removing the ground with the point or etching needle, or by any other
means, from those parts intended to be corroded or bitten, by which I obtain
what has hitherto been accomplished by etching and engraving in the old
way upon copper, such as plates and rollers for printing on cotton, linen,
woollen, &a, and on paper for printers, potters, and other uses, and also
indented scals or dies. I secondly produce what, for distinction, I shall call a
bass relief, in a completely different manner from anything heretofore attempted
upon plates or rollers of zinc, either pure or slightly alloyed, as before men-
tioned, by employing solutions of metallic salts, acid salts, or acids, such as
will be hereafter described; and I defend those parts intended to remain
untouched by any of said solutious by drawing or covering over the said parts
some waxy, resinous, oily, or fatty composition, hereafter to be described, so
that the said parts shall stand prominent and in relief after the plates or rollers
of zinc have been subjected to the action of such solution of metallic salts,
acid salts, or acids; and I hereby effect what has been hitherto obtained by
engraving, or cutting, or brassing in wood, or by making dies or punches, and
thus produce the varieties of woodcut and cross-hatch tools or devices for im-
pressing and ornamenting leather, seals in relief, & a. Thirdly, I obtain what
I shall term alto or high relief, by producing metal castings from wooden
moulds or matrices, prepared and constructed in a novel and expeditious manner,
as herein-after particularly set forth, which castings may be used to produce
impressions. from sieve, type press, or by the hand, as occasion may require..

page_text: For the more full understanding of this my Invention, I now describe and set
forth more minutely the manner of performing each process; and first, when
I etch upon plates or rollers of zinc, either pure or slightly alloyed, I proceed
in the application of the etching ground or varnish according to the methods
most approved and in use amongst engravers and etchers upon copper; and I
remove the said ground or varnish from those parts intended to be corroded or
bitten by points, needles, or such other modes as may be found best adapted to
the purpose; but instead of dilute nitrous acid, or aquafortis, or any other
uncombined acid, I employ solutions or mixed solutions of metallic salts or acids
in combination with such metals, as can be separated from the said acids by
zinc, either in its pure state or slightly alloyed; such, for instance, are the solu-
tions of lead in acetous acid, forming acitate of lead or sugar of lead, the
solutions of lead in nitrous acid, or nitrate of lead, the nitrate muriate or
acitates of tin or copper, or sulphate of copper, or some of the solutions of
silver, iron, bismuth, antimony, mercury, &ra, but I use and greatly prefer the
acitate of lead, which may be of the specific gravity 1020 (water being consi-
dered as 1000). In this solution I expose the plates or rollers of zinc
properly prepared for biting, and I take care to remove from time to time
the metallic efflorescence which arises in those parts of the plates or rollers
exposed to the action of the said solution of sugar of lead by brisk agitation or
rincing in water, or slight and careful brushing with a feather, or any other
matter that will remove the said efflorescence, and expose the undefended
surfaces afresh to the corroding action of the solution of sugar of lead, which
action is to be repeated and continued till the plate or roller has acquired the
required depth, after which it is carefully washed from the solution, and cleansed
and freed from the etching varnish by the well-known method of engravers.
Having thus minutely explained my new method of obtaining etched or in-
dented designs, devices, &a, I now proceed to describe and set forth as minutely
my method of obtaining them raised, or in what I term bas-relief, viz. :---On
the surface of the plate or roller of zinc, either pure or but slightly alloyed, I first
draw, point, pencil, print, or otherwise delineate the design, device, figure, or
pattern with some waxy, resinous, fatty, or oily composition, such as sealing
wax dissolved in spirits of wine, or india-rubber dissolved in spirits of turpen-
tine, but I use, and greatly prefer to either, three parts of drying oil and one
part of oil of lavender mixed up with lamp black, or with bole or Prussian
blue, or with any other substance that will give the oil sufficient color and
tenacity to work freely. Secondly, I coat with paint or any other greasy sub-
stance the edges, ends, and back of the plate or roller, and I immerse it in a
dilute solution of such metallic salts as have been directed in the preceding

page_text: part of this Specification for the etching process, but I greatly prefer as in it
to use the solution of the salt of sugar of lead, and about the same specific
gravity, or I sometimes use (where the relief is required to be clumsy or
coarse, or where broad lights are required,) such a dilute solution of uncom-
bined acid or of acidulous solutions of salts as will more hastily corrode or
dissolve the undefended surfaces of the zinc without injuring the waxy, resinous,
fatty, or oily compositions. Thirdly, I take care to remove from time to time
the metallic efflorescence, or dissolved metal or matter, by brisk agitation or
rincing in water, or slight and careful brushing with a feather, or any other
matter that will remove the said efflorescence, and expose the undefended sur-
faces afresh to the corroding action of the solution of sugar of lead, and I
proceed exactly as in the former case, or etching process, till by repeated
immersions the desired depth or strength of relief is attained.
It is evident from what has been thus described that the designs, devices,
patterns, or compositions produced and finished by the process immediately fore-
going will be prominent or in relief, and from whence impressions may be
obtained from the type press or printing sieve, and that thus, as before inti-
mated, the varieties of wood engraving and cross hatch, also bookbinders' tools
or devices for impressing or ornamenting leather, types, punches, seals, &ca,
can be quickly represented and completed; and, further, by combining my first
and second process, that is to say, my etching and bas-relief, I produce on the
same plate or surface both indention and relief, which is particularly applicable
to dies producing an impression part of which will appear sunk and part stand-
ing up in relief. But when a number of the same device or subject in relief
are required, I indent or impress an original etched relieved cast, cut, or other-
wise fashioned type or punch in or upon the smooth surface of a piece of wood
cut transversely or across the grain, and well seasoned and baked, and thus
obtain a suitable matrix or mould, in which numerous casts in succession may
be made with such metals or mixture of metals as melt at a low temperature
of heat. To more fully explain and illustrate this particular branch of my
Invention, I shall here describe particularly my method and manner of per-
forming it. On the smooth surface of a piece of American pine, mahogany,
box, holly, ash, beech, or sycamore, cut transversely or across the grain, that is
to say, having the grane of the wood upwards, as in the natural growth, well
seasoned and baked, or slightly charr'd, or upon the same smooth surface of
any other kind of well seasoned and baked wood, whose grain and texture is as
applicable, I first indent an original zinc or other relief, type, device, or seal
therein, or fashion a mould by punching down and compressing the wood to
the desired form and depth, or when my object is to produce an alto or very

page_text: prominent relief for casting metallic shapes, types, or figures, for constructing
blocks for callico printers or other purposes, I punch down or compress the
wood, in manner before mentioned, to a still greater depth, so as to obtain the.
height of relief required. Secondly, after the mould is thus prepared, I
surround it with a rim or border of card or thin copper, or such other suitable
boundage as will confine the fluid metal and allow a sole or bond of connection
with the mould, and by which the casts can be safely withdrawn. Thirdly, I
prepare an upright piece of wood or stone, corresponding in size with the mould
or matrix, through which I bore a hole for the purpose of conveying the fluid
metal to the mould, and this conductor (technically called a git or jet) I gently
press upon the rim or border of card or thin copper in such a manner as that
its aperture may be directly over the centre of the mould, and through this
aperture I pour in the metallic fluid, which may consist of any metal or mixture
of metals that will melt at moderate heat, so as to yield a good cast without
injuring the mould. The metal which I use for these casts is a compound
consisting of equal weights of bismuth, tin, and lead, or four parts tin, four
parts bismuth, 3 lead, and I of antimony. Lastly, when the metal is suffi-
ciently cooled and set, and the git or jet removed, I carefully withdraw the
cast from the mould by means of the screw or vice, and proceed to repeat the
castings to procure the number of them required, after which I file and dress
up their faces, and cut away the stalks left by the git, and then, if for seals, I
furnish them with proper handles, or if for callico or other printing purposes,
arrange their joinings, and screw, nail, or otherwise fasten them on the com-
mon printing block or roller.
I
The foregoing details are given for the more full understanding and illustra-
tion of my Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed;
but the Invention whereof I claim the sole and exclusive use consists, first, in
etching upon zinc in its pure or slightly alloyed state by means of solutions of
metallic salts, hercin-before described for that purpose; secondly, for pro-
ducing reliefs on zinc in its pure or slightly alloyed state by means of solutions
of metallic salts, acid salts, or acids heretofore described for that purpose; and,
thirdly, for casting types, devices, &a, in wooden moulds or matrices made and
prepared in the manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name and affixed my seal,
this Eighteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and sixteen.
ROBERT CLAYTON. (L.S.)

page_text: TAKEN AND ACKNOWLEDGED before me, one of the Masters of His
Majesty's High Court of Chancery in Ireland, this Eighteenth day of November,
One thousand eight hundred and sixteen.
THovin D...
Inrolled the Twenty-fifth day of November, in the year above written.