IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING AND LETTERING HARD AND UNEVEN SURFACES AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR.'
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry M'Elcheran, of Hamilton, in tho
Dominion of Canada, but at present of Nos. 4 and 5, Cross Street,
Finsbury Place, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING AND LETTERING HARD AND UNEVEN
SURFACES AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR.'
"
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Henry McElcheran
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 20th December 1871, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Henry McElcheran
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 20th December 1871, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY MCELCHERAN, of Hamilton, in the Dominion of Canada, but at
present of Nos. 4 and 5, Cross Street, Finsbury Place, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.

page_text: 66
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for IMPROVEMENTS
IN ORNAMENTING AND LETTERING HARD AND UNEVEN SURFACES AND IN APPARATUS
THEREFOR," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for
the same, and have made solemn Declaration that I am the true and
first Inventor thereof.
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by
the following statement:-
My Invention is peculiarly adapted to ornamenting sewing machines,
chairs, and similar articles of furniture, but may be applied to many
other purposes.
The device or figure required for ornamenting is first drawn upon a
block of wood similar to those used for engraving woodcuts for printing
or on other suitable material. The block is then engraved so as to leave
the device or figure raised thereon in the same manner as if the said
block were intended to be used as a type for printing the figure engraved
thereon. I then take a cast in plaster, gutta percha, or other suitable
material from the engraved face of the block, which serves as the mould
or matrix for making another cast, as herein-after described. I make a
composition of glue, brown sugar, glycerine, pine tar, and balsam of fir,
which I prefer to use in about the following named proportions, namely,
brown sugar, one pound; No. 1 glue, eighteen ounces; glycerine, one
half pound; pine tar, one half ounce; balsam of fir, two ounces.
I first
soak the glue in water till it becomes soft, then add the sugar, glycerine,
and tar, and melt and cook them together by a moderate heat, in the
same manner as glue is ordinarily prepared for use as a cement. I add
the balsam of fir just before pouring the composition into the mould or
matrix formed by the plaster cast herein-before mentioned. I form
around the said plaster cast in any convenient manner a raised edge or
flange so as to form a shallow pan, into which I pour the composition
above mentioned to the depth of from one-eighth to one-third of an inch.
This composition when it cools forms a tough but exceedingly pliable and

page_text: elastic sheet, having upon its face a device or figure exactly corre-
sponding to that engraved upon the face of the block from which the
plaster cast was taken. This flexible sheet I use for imprinting figures
upon the surfaces to be ornamented in the following manner :-
To print colours merely I apply the paint or colouring matter of about
the consistency of printers' ink to the face of said elastic and flexible
sheet by means of a roller or in any other suitable manner, and then
apply the face of said sheet to the surface to be ornamented, and press it
gently thereon, which completes the process. But if the ornamenting is
to be executed in gold or silver leaf, Dutch metal, or bronze, I first apply
to the face of said flexible sheet, by a roller or otherwise, a coat of
gilders' sizing, and then apply the face of said pattern sheet to the
surface to be ornamented, pressing it gently thereon as aforesaid, which
transfers the figure in sizing to said surface. The metal leaf or bronze
is then applied in the usual way.
If the ornamenting is required to be executed in burnished gloss, the
surface to be ornamented must first be so japanned or varnished as to
have a glossy surface. Then a sizing composed of isingglass or other
gluey substance and water is applied to the surface, and gold leaf is
immediately thereafter applied. When dry, asphatum varnish (black
japan) especially prepared, is applied to the gilded surface by means of
the flexible pattern sheet in the same manner as the colouring matter or
sizing as above described. Then when the japan is dry the surplus gold
is washed off with water, and afterwards the japan is removed by spirits
of turpentine and whiting, leaving the ornamenting or lettering as the
case may be complete.
The composition pattern plate or sheet above described is so very
pliable and flexible that it can be used on irregular, convex, or concave
surfaces as well as on plane surfaces, and can be wrapped around small
cylinders, such as the legs and rounds of chairs, and the like. The said
flexible pattern sheet may if desired be strengthened by a backing of
canvas or other suitable material applied thereto before the composition
cools, but I have not found any such backing necessary.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I
wish it to be particularly understood that what I claim is,-

page_text: I. The method or process of ornamenting hard or uneven surfaces,
substantially as herein described.
II. The flexible pattern sheet prepared substantially as hercin
described, and composed of the ingredients herein described, or their
equivalents, for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry McElcheran, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.