IMPROVED ADHESIVE COMPOSITIONS FOR ATTACHING COPPER OR OTHER SHEATHING TO IRON, WOOD, OR OTHER SHIPS OR VESSELS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Benson James, of Fish Street Hill, in the
City of London, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED ADHESIVE
COMPOSITIONS FOR ATTACHING COPPER OR OTHER SHEATHING TO IRON, WOOD, OR
OTHER SHIPS OR VESSELS."
Sealed the 3rd October 1866, and dated the 13th April 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Benson James at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th April 1866.
I, HENRY BENSON JAMES, of Fish Street Hill, in the City of London,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
ADHESIVE COMPOSITIONS FOR ATTACHING COPPER OR OTHER SHEATHING TO IRON,
WOOD, OR OTHER SHIPS OR VESSELS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is the production of improved adhesive com-
positions for attaching copper or other sheathing to iron, wood, or other ships or
vessels.
In preparing such composition I use by preference a mixture consisting
of one pound of resin, two pounds of whiting, half a pound of litharge, with
turpentine and linseed oil, the whole well mixed, boiled for about five minutes,
and applied when hot.

page_text: Otherwise, I prepare such composition by taking about two pounds
of solution of either india-rubber or gutta percha, one pound of red lead,
one and a half pounds of varnish, or varnish and mastic, heated and made
to the consistency of soft putty and applied.
Or, in other cases, I take one pound of red lead, two pounds of white lead,
two pounds of whiting, and one pound of dryers, the whole mixed with linseed
oil and turpentine until similar in consistency to soft putty.
Or, in other cases, I make use of one pound of mastic, one pound of red lead,
and two pounds of whiting mixed with boiled oil and turpentine, and made
similar in consistence to soft putty.
In attaching sheathing I first apply a coating of oil and paint to the surface
to be covered. I then bend the sheathing to the form required, and then
apply coatings of linseed oil to the sheathing and ship's or vessel's side. I
then cover the sheathing with the composition to the thickness by preference
of from one-thirty-second to one-sixteenth of an inch, then causing the sheathing
to be forcibly pressed by machinery or otherwise against the ship's or vessel's
side. After the application of the sheathing a fire may be required, and the
composition then allowed to become dry and set.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Benson James in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th October 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BENSON JAMES, of Fish Street Hill, in the City of London, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Benson James, Her special licence that I, the said. Henry
Benson James, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Henry Benson James, 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 "IMPROVED
ADHESIVE COMPOSITIONS FOR ATTACHING COPPER OR OTHER SHEATHING TO IRON,

page_text: WOOD, OR OTHER SHIPS OR VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Henry Benson James, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Benson James, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
The object of this Invention is the production of improved adhesive com-
positions for attaching copper or other sheathing to iron, wood, or other ships
or vessels.
In preparing such composition I use by preference a mixture consisting
of one pound of resin, two pounds of whiting, half a pound of litharge, with
such an amount of turpentine and linseed oil as may be necessary to reduce
the whole when well mixed and boiled together for about five minutes to the
consistency required. The composition so prepared is to be applied to the
ship or vessel while hot.
Otherwise, instead of the foregoing I make use of a composition which I
prepare by taking about two pounds of solution either of india-rubber or of
gutta percha, one pound of red lead in the usual condition as ordinarily sold,
one and a half pounds of varnish or of varnish and mastic, the whole heated
and made to the consistency of soft putty, and applied while hot.
In other cases I take one pound of red lead, two pounds of white lead, two
pounds of whiting, and one pound of dryers, the whole mixed with linseed
oil or turpentine until similar in consistency to soft putty, and applied while
hot.
Otherwise, I make use of one pound of mastic, one pound of red lead, and
two pounds of whiting, mixed with boiled oil and turpentine, and made
similar in consistence to soft putty, and apply the same while hot.
In attaching sheathing I first apply a coating of oil and paint to the surface
to be covered. I then bend the sheathing to the form required, and then
apply coatings of linseed oil to the sheathing and ship's or vessel's side. I then
cover the sheathing with the composition to the thickness by preference of
from one-thirty-second to one-sixteenth of an inch, and cause it to be forcibly
pressed by machinery or otherwise against the ship's or vessel's side. After
the application of the sheathing or at the time of such application it may be

page_text: found necessary to make use of a fire or fires whereby the sheathing vessel's
sides and composition may be heated, the latter being subsequently allowed
to become dry or cool and set, and thus to effectually secure the sheathing to the
ship or vessel. By experiments I have found that with compositions prepared
according to my Invention no galvanic action takes place between the iron of
the vessel and the metal sheathing.
The proportions of the different compositions herein specified may be more
I do not
or less varied to meet the special requirements of particular cases.
therefore confine or limit myself to the precise proportions previously specified,
but I claim, the mixtures of materials constituting adhesive anti-galvanic
compositions for attaching copper or other sheathing to iron, wood, or other
ships or vessels without the intervention of felt or other substances between
such sheathing and the ship's or vessel's side, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Benson James, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
W. LLOYD WISE,
Office for Patents,
Chandos Chambers, W.C.
H. BENSON JAMES. (L.S.)