IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL MARBLES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Réné Charles Videgrain, Merchant, residing Laffitte
Street, No. 10, in the Empire of France, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL MARBLES."
Sealed the 19th June 1860, and dated the 6th January 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Réné Charles Videgrain
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th January 1860.
I, RENÉ CHARLES VIDEGRAIN, Merchant, residing Laffitte Street, No. 10,
in the Empire of France, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL MARBLES," to be as
follows:-
The improvements consist in the addition of several new ingredients in the
composition of artificial marbles, together with an entirely new mode of manu-
facture.
The ingredients which enter into the composition of the marbles are,
1st, iron rendered inoxydable in bars or in a drawn state; 2nd, sulphate of
lime; 3rd, lime; 4th, ochres of all colours; 5th, wood & coal ashes; 6th,
powdered alum.
These matters are made into a paste by means of the following liquids:-1st,
feruginous aluminous water; 2nd, gun water: 3d, silicate of potash water.

page_text: A small quantity of rectified sulphuric acid is introduced in the proportion of
1 of acid to 150 of water. The mixture can be varied in its material according
to the design of the marble to be imitated. The paste is well kneaded and
rendered perfectly homogeneous, and is then compressed in moulds, stamped,
modelled, dried, polished, and immersed in heated liquids.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Réné Charles Videgrain in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 21st June 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RENE
CHARLES VIDEGRAIN, Merchant, residing Laffitte Street, No. 10, in the Empire
of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Réné Charles Videgrain, Her special licence that I, the said Réné Charles
Videgrain, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such other as I, the
said Réné Charles Videgrain, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL MARBLES," upon the 'condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Réné Charles Videgrain, 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 Réné Charles Videgrain, 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 and accompanying Drawings, that is to say.:-
The Invention consists of a new and improved mode of manufacture, and in
the admixture of several matters not hitherto used, by which means the

page_text: artificial marbles so made possess qualities unobtainable in those manufactured
in the ordinary way. They can be made of any shade or colour, and can be
used as receptacles for water, coatings for walls of rooms, and other places
exposed to humidity, chimney marbles, and a variety of other purposes. They
can be made in large or small sizes, as required, hollow or solid, and in form
according to the article for which they are wanted. The imitation is so com-
plete as to prevent their being distinguished from real marble. The density
also varies according to the application for which they are intended.
These marbles, have the following advantages over the real, viz., in case of
breakage they can be repaired at very little expense; they are more or less-
elastic according to the manner in which they are prepared. This quality
permits of their being used in vessels, furniture, plate warmers, cases for stoves,
counters in shops, and many other purposes. The proportions of the matters
employed may vary according to the marbles to be imitated; it would be im
possible to fix the quantities required to represent any specified marble, as the
ochres used are often very different.
The matters employed are as follows:-1st, iron rendered inoxidable in bars:
or in strips; 2nd, sulphate of lime; 3rd, lime; 4th, ochres of all colours;
5th, wood and coal ashes mixed. These substances must be employed more:
particularly in marbles intended to bear great heat, such as chimney pieces;
6th, alum powdered at the time of mixing, being put in a furnace and reduced
to powder with alabaster or plaster..
The liquids used to mix with the powders to render them into a paste are;
1st, alumnious feruginous water; 2nd, gum water; 3rd, silicate of potash
water; 4th, a small quantity of rectified sulphuric acid, about 1 pint to 150
pints of water. The proportion of the various liquids must vary according.
to the object to be obtained; thus, if large blocks are required, the paste must
be as firm as possible, whereas small objects necessitate the paste to be thin,.
when it consequently requires more liquid. The principal point to be observed;
is, that the paste be thoroughly kneaded, & of a complete homogeneity.
The arrangement of the manufactory is represented in plan in the accom-
nansing Drawings.
a, kneading table with wooden top; b, composing table with wooden top;
c, boiler for the liquids; d, water cisterns; e, boxes with lids for the powdered:
sulphates and carbonates of lime; f, stands, on which the boxes for the coloured.
ochres are placed; g, trucks or waggons with moveable boards for receiving the:
moulds; h, a continuous railway; i, press; j, unmoulding tables; k, 1st stove;

page_text: 1, table for preparing the moulds; m, 2nd stove, with imbibition boiler; n,
rough polishing machines; o, small smoothing and polishing machine; p, tables;
g, trestles for driers; r, adjusting room; 8, polishing room; t, room for turned
objects; u, tables for polishing and varnishing; v, swing lever lathes; æ, office;
y, show room.
The moulds employed differ from those hitherto used, as instead of being
made of absorbing bodies, they are coated in the interior with a thin sheet of
metal. The moulds can also be solid and not coated inside with the metal
sheet, but they must be perfectly polished inside. With these moulds we
obtain at once a beautiful polish, the solidity and brilliancy of which seems
superior to that obtained by rubbing with hard stone. The form of the moulds
varies according to the objects to be made, and they must be generally so
constituted as to resist a strong pressure, which the matter they contain must
receive. The moulds for columns are arranged on wooden frames, to which
they are bolted, the moulds being placed perpendicularly, and the shells of metal
(copper preferable) supported on a rundle or pivot. The mould is furnished
with a core if the object is required to be hollow, and without it for solid objects.
The several pieces are bound together by hoops or bolts with keys. The
whole of the mould is fixed; the upper part is held by a cross bar with edge,
which maintains concentrically all the pieces of the mould. On the paste being
introduced, the cross bar is removed in order to place a rundle-shaped piece on
the paste, acted on by a press so as to produce a compression on the whole
height of the column.
The stamping and moulding of the paste is effected thus:-the paste pre-
pared for the marble is placed in the moulds, care being taken to stamp on the
facing or surface veins by cutting the paste in slices. The filled mould is
placed on one of the waggons, which conducts it to the press. When great
resistance is required in the object an iron frame is placed inside corresponding
in size and form with the object.
Compression of the paste in the moulds.-The moulds, as above mentioned,
must be so made as to be capable of resisting strong pressure, which pressure
must be uniform. The objects must rest under the pressure until the paste is
set; this takes place when it begins to cool.
Removal of the objects from the moulds, and their first operation in the
stove. The objects are removed from the moulds with the ordinary care, and
are subjected to the action of heat in a stove, which placed on the rails receives
the trucks or waggons on which the objects are placed, so that they may attain
a sufficient dryness to permit of their being adjusted & polished.
Adjusting and polishing.-The adjusting requires great precision on the part

page_text: of the workman, as on it depends the good appearance of the article. Polishing
is unnecessary when the objects have been cast in the metal moulds, as above
described, or of other substances, such as hard stone or glass polished inside,
as the polish thus obtained equals that hitherto produced by the hard stone for
marble polishing.
Another mode of polishing is by a machine furnished with large stones placed
horizontally and supported by a strong gearing lever. These stones, by means
of the screw lever which supports them, rise and descend at will, and enable
the work to be performed in a much better manner and more promptly than
when done in the old way by hand. The polished objects are then placed on
the trucks of the apparatus to undergo the last operation, viz., that of the
imbibition stove.
The objects on having attained the proper degree of polish are placed on the
trucks, which convey them to the stove where they are subjected to the heat
judged necessary; when they have been sufficiently exposed to it they are
plunged in a bath of oil or any other fatty matter to render them waterproof.
The objects must remain subjected to the oil bath a sufficient time to become
thoroughly impregnated with it, so as to be proof against the inclemencies of
the weather, contact with saltpetre, and injurious vapours. As a final operation
we apply a coat of amber solution by means of a brush. Two or three layers
of this are given, and form when dry a very hard coat, combining and hardening
with the polish of the marbles. From its transparency it in no way injures
the appearance of the marbles, which may be used for articles to contain water,
besides numerous other employments to which it may be put.
Having thus described my Invention, and the manner in which the same is
or may be carried into effect, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters
Patent is,-
1st, the new mode of manufacture herein-beforo described.
2nd, the employment of the several ingredients not hitherto used in the
manufacture of the paste from which the marble is made.
3rd, the various improvements in the manufacture, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Réné Charles Videgrain, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
RENE CHARLES VIDEGRAIN. (L.s.)