AN IMPROVED MODE OF TREATING WOOD VENEER AND FORMING THEREFROM SHEETS OR CARDS FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention
of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF TREATING WOOD VENEER AND FORMING
THEREFROM SHEETS OR CARDS FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES."-A communication
from abroad by Dawson Miles, of Boston, Massachusetts, United
States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 17th January 1868.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF TREATING WOOD VENEER AND
FORMING THERE FROM SHEETS OR CARDS FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES," a communi-
cation, to be as follows:-
The first part of my Invention relates to an improved method of
applying thin sheets or laminæ of wood to the plastered walls of houses

page_text: as a substitute for the house paper or paper hangings ordinarily employed
for this purpose.
The thin sheets of wood veneer, which may be
obtained by any known process, are thoroughly saturated in water or
submitted to the ordinary steaming process until they are rendered
sufficiently flexible and plastic to be handled without danger of tearing
or cracking, after which they are rolled up ready for use. The sheets
thus prepared are applied to walls by means of paste or other adhesive
substance in the same manner as ordinary paper hangings; care must be
taken that the outer surface of the veneer is sufficiently moistened to
keep it from curling when being pasted.
My Invention relates also to cards cut from a strip formed by the
union of thin sheets of wood, and chiefly designed for printing purposes.
These sheets are placed together with the grain of one sheet crossing the
grain of the other, and are so closely united and condensed by pressure
as to produce, a smooth hard surface which is not liable to warp, twist,
or break.
The said Invention also relates to enamelling the surface of such
cards in order to give them a more ornamental and finished appear-
ance. The sheets of veneer joined together with paste or other
adhesive substance with the grain of the upper sheet crossing that of
the lower sheet are submitted to heavy pressure by passing them
between rolls. The rigidity of the wood is thus destroyed, the fibres
áre condensed, and the two sheets closely united, any liability to
bending, twisting, or breaking the strips being prevented, and the outer
surfaces of the said strips being left with a smooth hard finish suitable
to be printed upon. These strips may now be cut up into cards of the
required size. If a highly polished or artificial surface is desired it is
simply necessary to apply an enamel or varnish of the required color in
a manner similar to that employed for ordinary cardboard. Cards as
above described may be furnished ready to be printed upon at a much
lower cost than those made from the materials heretofore used for the
same purpose.

page_text: SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said
William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th
August 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, South-
ampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Consulting Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty. Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of January,.in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert.
Lake, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time.
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-.
after 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 "AN IMPROVED MODE OF TREATING WOOD VENEER AND
Fo. ING THEREFROM SHEETS OR CARDS FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, 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
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 first part of my Invention relates to an improved method of
applying thin sheets or laminae of wood to the plastered walls of houses
as a substitute for the house paper or paper hangings ordinarily employed
for covering or ornamenting such walls.

page_text: According to my Invention thin sheets of wood veneer, which may be
obtained by any known process which has been before used for a similar
purpose, are thoroughly saturated with moisture either by immersion
in water or by steeping the sheets of wood in a liquid mixture not
heretofore used, and which I have ascertained to be much more useful
for the purpose than water, as it imparts to wood a softness, pliability,
and tenacity which wood when treated by the old method does not
possess. The mixture which I recommend to be used is made by
mixing water with glycerine or substances analogous to it, the propor-
tions used will vary according to the nature and condition of the wood
operated upon, but no difficulty will be found in determining the
proportions required according to the nature and condition of the wood.
In some cases the wood after being steeped in the mixture recommended
to be used by me may be submitted to the action of steam. By this"
means sheets of wood veneer which from their thinness and brittleness
would otherwise be so liable to break or crack as to be unsuitable for
hanging on walls may be rendered sufficiently flexible and plastic to
be handled without danger of breaking or cracking, and afterwards may
be rolled up ready for use, and when applied to the walls may be applied
directly to their surfaces without requiring the intervention of canvass
or other fibrous materials which have heretofore been considered
necessary.
The sheets prepared by the means above described may be applied
to walls by means of paste or other adhesive substance in the same
manner as ordinary paper hangings, care being taken that the wood is
properly steeped, and that the outer surface of the veneer is sufficiently
moistened to keep it from curling when being pasted. When prepared
and applied to wall decoration according to my Invention the veneers
may be very thin, the surface of the wall must therefore be of an
even or uniform tint or colour throughout, and I prefer that it should
be white or nearly so as discolouration of the plaster would show through
the very thin veneers. If the plastered surface of the wall is not
perfectly white or uniform in colour, and the veneers are likely to be
impaired in appearance by a dark colour shewing through them, this
inconvenience may be obviated by covering the wall with white paper
previously to putting on the veneers.
My Invention also relates to a method of making cards cut from a
strip formed by the union of thin sheets of wood, and chiefly designed.

page_text: for printing purposes. These sheets are placed together with the grain
of one sheet crossing the grain of the other, and are so closely united
and condensed by pressure as to produce a smooth hard surface without
any liability to warp, twist, or break. The sheets of veneer joined
together with paste or other 'adhesive, substance with the grain of the
upper sheet crossing that of the lower sheet, are subjected to heavy
pressure by passing them between rollers or by other suitable means.
The rigidity of the wood is thus destroyed, the fibres are condensed, and
the two sheets closely united, any liability of the strips to bend, twist,
or break being prevented, and the outer surfaces of the said sheets
being left with a smooth hard finish suitable to be printed upon. These
strips may afterwards be cut up into cards or sheets of the required size.
If a highly polished or artificial surface is desired it is simply necessary
to apply an enamel or varnish of the required colour in a manner
similar to that employed for ordinary cardboard. Cards as above
described may be furnished ready to be printed upon at a much
lower cost than those made from the materials heretofore used for the
same purpose.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and shewn how the same may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice, I wish it under-
stood that I do not claim the use of sheets of wood veneer as a substitute
for paper, nor the application of water or steam to moisten such sheets,
as I am aware that wood in thin sheets or laminae has already been
applied to such purpose, but by my method of preparing and applying
these sheets I am enabled to use them more efficiently and much
thinner than any which have heretofore been used, and am able to
dispense with the use of canvass or fibrous materials so as to effect
the covering of plastered walls with such sheets in a much cheaper
and more advantageous manner than has heretofore been practicable.
I therefore claim,―
First. The method of preparing thin sheets or laminae of wood by
the means herein-before described, or by means of a similar kind,
whereby such sheets may be applied to plastered wall in the same
manner as paper without the intervention of canvass or other like
material.
Second. The production of cards or cardboard by combining thin
sheets or laminae of wood in the mode herein-before set forth, or any

page_text: similar mode, which cards or cardboard are adapted to be printed,
engraved, or written upon, or otherwise made to serve instead of ordinary
cards or cardboard.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of August, in the 5
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
FRANK WALLIS.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)