IMPROVEMENTS IN CEMENTING CAST AND WROUGHT IRON TO OBTAIN CAST STEEL
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Amand Athanase Lamiable, of 2, Rue Ste. Appo-
line, Paris, (France,) and of 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CEMENTING CAST AND WROUGHT IRON TO
OBTAIN CAST STEEL."
Sealed the 31st October 1862, and dated the 16th May 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Amand Athanase Lamiable
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th May 1862.
I, AMAND ATHANASE LAMIABLE of 2, Rue Ste. Appoline, Paris, (France,)
and of 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, do hereby declare the nature of my
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CEMENTING CAST AND WROUGHT IRON TO OBTAIN
CAST STEEL," to be as follows, that is to say:
My Invention consists in converting cast and forged iron into steel by
cementation, and afterwards into cast steel, and is as follows:-I first take
cast or wrought iron and place it in a sheet-iron box with a sufficient quantity
of sawdust, and then lute the joints of the box with clay; I place the whole
in the middle of a moderately intense fire during a length of time, varying
according to the thickness of the pieces. The steel thus obtained is afterwards
placed in a crucible with a fresh quantity of sawdust, and the crucible being
well closed, is heated until the metal is melted; it is then poured into a mould,

page_text: and a piece of good cast steel is obtained. The moulds should be dry, and for
certain pieces it is well to raise the temperature of the moulds to a high
degree, which may be made of any suitable materials; although very finely
divided wood has given good. steel. I would observe that I can also obtain
very good results by employing leaves and tops of branches of different trees,
either alone or conjointly, with divided wood. I also obtain good steel with
the coverings of certain fruits, such as the green shells of walnuts, and, finally,
the outer shell of cocoa-nuts.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Amand Athanase Lamiable in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 7th November 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AMAND
ATHANASE LAMIABLE, of 2, Rue Sainte Appoline, Paris, France, and of 4,
South Street, Finsbury, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Amand Athanase Lamiable, Her special licence that I, the said Amand
Athanase Lamiable, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Amand Athanase Lamiable, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
night make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN CEMENTING CAST AND WROUGHT IRON TO OBTAIN CAST STEEL,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Amand Athanase Lamiable,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under mine 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 Amand Athanase Lamiable, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
My Invention consists in converting cast and wrought iron into steel, then
in melting this steel to form pieces of cast steel, and in the employment for
that purpose of wood divided into small parts of such kinds as furnish various
essences, ebony being preferred; resinous woods (either alone or mixed with
sawdust or parts of other kinds of wood), leaves of the walnut, poplar, and
other similar kind of trees, the tops of the branches of various trees, of firs,
and other resinous trees, and also the envelope or outer casing of certain
fruits, such as the green shells of walnuts, the envelope of the cocoa-nut and
pine-apple, and other similar products, the choice and proportions of which
will be best ascertained by practice.
The pieces of forged or cast iron of good quality to be cemented are placed
as usual in sheet-iron boxes or moulds, and entirely surrounded with a thick
layer of wood sawdust, employed either alone or mixed with one or several of
the substances before stated, and the box is closed, and the joint luted with fire-
clay; the mould is then placed in the middle of a rather intense fire, which is
kept up during a length of time, varying with the dimensions of the pieces to
be cemented; larger they are, longer they must remain in the fire. The pieces
of good cast iron or forged iron cemented by this process will form good pieces of
steel. But to obtain pieces entirely of cast steel after converting the cast iron or
forged iron into steel by cementation, as before described, this metal is reduced
to pieces, which are placed in a crucible with wood sawdust or other of the
substances before stated for the cementing process, and in a quantity propor-
tionate to and sufficient for the metal to be treated. I close and lute the
crucible, so as to prevent the gases from escaping; I heat to the temperature
and during the time required for melting the metal and for enabling me to run
it into the moulds suitably arranged and prepared beforehand. Thus, by my
improvements, I obtain either pieces of steel by cementation, or pieces of cast
steel of a superior description.
Iron ores being first purified may be converted into pieces of steel by the
same or analogous processes.
Having thus described my Invention, and the manner of performing the
same, what I claim as new and intended to be protected is,―
First, the application of wood divided into small parts, such as sawdust, the
leaves of trees, and the envelopes of certain fruits, for the cementation of
pieces of cast or forged iron to form steel suitable for the manufacture of
cutlery, rails, tyres of wheels, and other articles, as herein-before described.

page_text: Secondly, the mode of converting the steel of cementation into cast steel,
and the mode of running pieces of any form and dimensions into cast steel, as
herein-before described.
Secondly, the mode of converting the steel of cementation into cast steel,
and the mode of running pieces of any form and dimensions into cast steel, as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, 1, the said Amand Achauase Lamiable, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Third day of November in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
A. LAMIABLE. (L.S.)