A COMPOSITION OF MATTER OR ARTIFICIAL STONE FOR VENEERS, MOULDED AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Herbert John Allison at the Office,
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th November 1882. Communi-
cated to him from abroad by Wilhelm Matt and Moses Mehrbach, both of the
City and State of New York, United States of America.
23
HERBERT JOHN ALLISON, of 41 Southampton Buildings, Holborn, in the County
of Middlesex, "A COMPOSITION OF MATTER OR ARTIFICIAL STONE FOR VENEERS,
MOULDED AND OTHER ARTICLES a communication to me from abroad by Wilhelm
Matt and Moses Mehrbach, both of the City and State of New York, United States
of America,
This invention relates to a new composition of matter for use as a veneer or
artificial surface for wood, plaster, papier-maché, ceramics, etc.. It is obtained in
the best manner by first soaking six pounds of the best clear glue in six pounds of
soft water for from six to eight hours, and then dissolving it completely by
applying thereto a gentle heat and stirring it. In the meantime about three-fourths
of a pound of white rosin is dissolved in one and one-half pounds of boiled linseed-
oil under the influence of heat, and the hot solution of oil and rosin is slowly
poured into the dissolved glue, the mixture being thoroughly stirred to render it of
uniform consistency and to keep down the foam, which will at first arise, the
stirring being continued so long as air-bubbles make their appearance. To the hot
solution of glue, oil, and rosin produced as above I add one-fourth pound of
glycerine and one pound of paper-pulp as produced in a paper-mill, and thoroughly
stir and agitate the mass by suitable mechanical devices until the fibres are equally
distributed therein. The compound is then passed through a fine sieve of brass
wire with the aid of a coarse brush, to remove any coarse particles which may
reinain therein, and is stiffened to the proper consistency by the addition thereto
of French chalk, china-clay, or other equivalent thickening material. The
compound admits of being colored by the addition of suitable pigments as taste,
fancy, and the character of the work to be produced therewith may require. The
pasty compound thus produced is made ready for use as a veneer by being rolled
out upon a hard slab into thin sheets, which are united to the surface to bec overed
by coating both the sheet of composition and the surface to be veneered each with
a film of hot glue in thin solution, and then pressing the two together, as in the
ordinary process of veneering in wood. In this manner not only all manner of

page_text: wood surfaces may be veneered with the compound, but it may be applied to
plaster walls, to papier-maché, and, in fact to all surfaces to which the glue will
adhere. The composition will harden within twenty-four hours and become as
hard as stone, and presents a smooth finished surface which admits of receiving a
very high polish. This polish may be produced by first rubbing down with
pumice-stone and oil of turpentine and finishing with sandaric polish in the
customary manner. Applied to a wooden surface, it adheres thereto so closely as
to become apparently an integral part thereof.
For producing an imitation of marble with the compound, the suitable colors are
each mixed separately with finely-pulverized steatite or kaolin, and, having been
thoroughly incorporated therewith and sifted, are each placed in a separate heap
upon a marble slab. The centre of each heap is hollowed out to receive a quantity
of the hot fluid solution of glue, oil, or rosin, paper-pulp, and glycerine, sufficient to
reduce the mass to a pasty condition. When the several colors are thus made
ready, each in the form of paste of proper consistency, they are kept ready for use
by enfolding them in a damp cloth. When required for use the separate masses of
color are steamed until heated through and through and fully softened, and are
placed upon the marble slabs in rolls, which are properly laid together and inter-
folded, rolled out with a suitable metallic roller, folded and again rolled into a thin
sheet, which will finally become veined in a beautiful imitation of marble.
I am aware that glue, rosin, linseed-oil, paper-pulp, and whiting have been
heretofore combined to produce a composition of matter for forming moulded
ornaments, but said compositions are not adapted for use as a veneer, because of
In the
the relative proportions of the ingredients and the nature thereof.
proportions hitherto employed the ingredients named produce a composition which
is so far brittle and non-elastic as to be wholly unsuitable for use as a veneer, and
which, when applied to a wooden or other surface in a thin sheet, will crack and
peel off therefrom. This invention differs from said compositions and from all
others of a similar character, in that, when properly applied, as herein described, to
any suitable surface, it will adhere thereto so firmly as to become homogeneous
therewith and form thereon an extremely hard coating, admitting of high polish,
and which will not break or peel off, but will in some cases be even more durable
than the body of the article. This difference is due, first, to a radical difference in
the proportions of such of the ingredients as are common to both, and especially in
the proportion of glue employed therein, which in this invention amounts to some
two hundred per cent., whereas in previous compositions the per centage is but
from fifty to one hundred per cent of the entire quantity. It is due, secondly, to
the addition of glycerine to the compound, whereby, in connection with the
increased proportion of glue, the compound becomes tough and elastic; and is due,
thirdly, to the substitution of steatite or kaolin for whiting, whereby the tendency
to brittleness in the composition is still further obviated.
Although I have herein given the proportions of the several ingredients named
which I deem adapted to produce the very best effects, I wish it to be understood
that said proportions admit of being varied within certain limits without departing
from this invention, and I contemplate the admixture of said ingredients in such
proportions under substantially the conditions named as shall produce a compound
possessing the essential characteristics of this composition which adapts it specially
for veneering, as herein set forth.