IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF PAINTS OR VARNISHES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Webster, of Lee Crescent, Birmingham, in
the County of Warwick, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE PREPARATION OF PAINTS OR VARNISHES."
Sealed the 21st June 1864, and dated the 8th February 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Webster at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 8th
February 1864.
I, JAMES WEBSTER, of Lee Crescent, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF PAINTS OR VARNISHES," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to prepare paints and varnishes that possess
the important properties of drying quickly, and being impervious to most acids,
the latter property rendering it particularly suitable for covering metals.
In carrying out my Invention I prepare a mixture composed of asphaltum,
rosin, and boiled oil, and use the same either with the pigment to be pre-
sently described, or with any ordinary pigment, to produce an anti-corrosive
paint or varnish. The mixture, which I will call No. 1, I make in the following
manner, adopting the proportions given merely as an example:-Mixture
No. 1. Take 20 lbs. or parts of asphaltum (by preference the residue from
the distillation of gas tar), boil or melt it in an iron vessel; when well melted

page_text: add, say, 30 lbs. or parts of rosin (by preference black rosin) in small quan-
tities at a time until the whole is well melted; then add 60 lbs. or parts of
boiled oil in small quantities at a time until the whole is well mixed. The
pigment I by preference employ, and which I will call mixture No. 2, is
made as follows:-Take carbonate of copper (carbonate of the protoxide pre-
ferred) 70 lbs. or parts, oxide of zinc (by preference precipitated oxide)
30 lbs. or parts, and grind them well together in a small quantity of turpen-
tine or mineral naphtha. To prepare the anti-corrosive paint or varnish, take
110 parts of mixture No. 1, mix it well with 120 parts of mixture No. 2, or
other pigment, and then add 30 parts of mineral naphtha, turpentine, or other
suitable spirit.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Webster in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th August 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WEBSTER, of Lee Crescent, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Webster, Her special license 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
time 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PREPARATION OF PAINTS OR VARNISHES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said James Webster, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, 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-

page_text: formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):
The object of this Invention is to prepare paints and varnishes that possess
the important properties of drying quickly and being impervious to most acids,
the latter property rendering the paints or varnishes particularly suitable for
covering metals and protecting them from oxidation.
In carrying out my Invention I prepare a mixture composed of asphaltum,
rosin, and boiled oil, and use it as a vehicle for applying the pigment to be
presently described, or for combining with any ordinary pigment, to produce an
anti-corrosive paint or varnish. This mixture or vehicle I prepare in the
following manner, using by preference the proportions given, as I have found
by experience that they afford a very satisfactory result:-I take two parts by
weight of asphaltum (by preference the solid residuum from the distillation of
gas tar), and reduce the same to a fluid state by submitting it to heat in an
iron vessel; when well melted I add thereto three parts by weight of rosin
(by preference black rosin), applying it in small quantities at a time, continuing
the heat and stirring occasionally until the whole is melted and well combined;
I then add to the mixture six parts by weight of boiled oil, in small quantities
at a time, and stir as before until the whole is well mixed. This liquid
compound I call mixture No. 1.
The pigment I by preference employ, and which I will call mixture No. 2,
is made as follows:-I take of carbonate of copper (carbonate of the protoxide
preferred) seven parts by weight, and of oxide of zinc (by preference pre-
cipitated oxide) three parts by weight, and grind them well together in a small
quantity of turpentine or mineral naphtha in the ordinary way of grinding
colours. In preparing the anti-corrosive paint or varnish, I take of mixture
No. 1 eleven parts by weight, and combine it well with twelve parts by weight
of mixture No. 2, or with any other ground pigment that may be preferred,
and I then add three parts by weight of mineral naphtha, or turpentine, or
other suitable spirit, to reduce the paint or varnish to the requisite fluidity for
working easily with the brush. This paint or varnish when applied to metal
surfaces will dry quickly, and the application of two coats will effectually
protect the painted surface from the action of moisture and even of muriatic
acid.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in the
Preparation of Paints or Varnishes," and explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to
the exact proportions above given, but that under the above in part recited

page_text: Letters Patent I claim, the use in combination of asphaltum and boiled oil in
the preparation of paints and varnishes as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Webster, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness to the signature of
James Webster,
RICHARD HEATHFIELD,
Birmingham Heath,
August 6th, 1864.
JAMES WEBSTER. (L.S.)