170 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



I Jim 



allowed t(i stand for 21- liours ; it is then decaiitod with n syi)hon, 

 and tlie solution of cyanide of potassium (which should he limpid) 

 is added thereto. If the solution thus prepared he suhniitted for 

 about five hours to the action of a volatic battery with a rapid 

 current (such as Bunsen's, Grove's, or Daniel's battery), and at a 

 mean teni])erature of 77° Fahrenlieit, it will deposit a coat of 

 yellow co])per, or brass, on the metal article immersed therein. 

 The process may be performed in vessels of porcelain, china, glass, 

 or wood (which may he lined with bitumen, or any isolating 

 resinous matter) ; and the vessels are preferred to be of a rect- 

 aii:rular shape. 



If the articles are to be coated with bronze, 25 parts of chloride of 

 tin are to be substituted for the above-mentioned 4-8 jiarts of sul- 

 idiate of zinc; the proportion of chloriile of copper is to be increased 

 from 25 parts to tS ; and a |)late of bronze is to be used as the 

 electrode ; in other respects the bath is prepared with the same in- 

 gredients, in the proi)ortions above stated, and the process is con- 

 ducted in the manner before described. 



A bath, for coating articles with brass, is prepared, by dissolving 

 SOO parts of sub-carbonate of potash, 15 parts of chloride of cop- 

 jier, 35 parts of sulphate of zinc, and 50 parts of cyanide of 

 potassium together, in 5,000 parts of cold distilled water. After 

 the bath has been stirred, it is allowed to stand for from 24 to 48 

 hours ; it is then subjected, in a cold state (from 25° to 30° Fah- 

 renheit), to the action of a voltaic battery, during the same time, 

 and in like manner to the ])receding baths. When this bath be- 

 i:omes impoverished by use, the salt of zinc, or copper, which has 

 been absorbed, must be replaced. The bath last described may 

 also be used for bronzing, by substituting about 10 parts of chlo- 

 ride of tin for the 35 parts of sulphate of zinc, and employing an 

 electrode of bronze. 



In either of the processes above described, instead of the sul- 

 phate of zinc, or chloride of tin, any neutral salts of zinc, or tin 

 acids, may be employed, according to whether the article is to he 

 covered with brass, or bronze, so long as the bath is sufficiently 

 rich in potash, that there may be no action upon blue paper of 

 turnsol. The proportions of the salts of tin, zinc, and copper, 

 may be varied according to the colour desired to be given to the 

 metal coating. This invention may also be applied to the coating 

 of alloys. 



RAILWAY BARS AND CHAIRS. 



RicHAHD Shaw, of Gold's-green, West Bromwich, Stafford, 

 railway-bar finisher, for " Improrements in the manufacture of 

 wrought-iron railway bars and railway chairs." — Granted October 21, 

 1847; Enrolled April 21, 1848. 



The improvements described in this specification relate to the 

 constructon of railway bars and railway chairs, as also the arange- 

 ment of the machinery for their construction ; and consist, First, in 

 the mode of forming and piling the pieces of iron to form the rail- 

 way-bar, for preventing the lamination of the metal. This is 

 effected by placing and piling the bars in the manner shown in the 

 anne.xed diagram, fig. 1, the lower portion of the bar being piled 

 in the usual manner with flat bars, and the upper 

 portion jdled ivith a broad bar bent into the form 

 shown, the edges abutting upon the surface of the 

 bars beneath, and the interior being filled and piled 

 in the usual manner. AVhen the railway-bar is 

 finished, the grain of the metal is arranged in the 

 form represented in fig. 2, and thus no laminating 

 edges occur on the head of the working surface. 

 The other improvements claimed by the patentee 

 are. Secondly, the mode of maimfacturing wrought- 

 iron railway bars-Mith protecting rails or flanges 

 affixed thereto, in such a manner that the heads 

 or working surface of the railway-bar stands above the sup- 

 port of the protecting rail or flange. Thirdly, the mode of 

 manufacturing railway-bars with hollow heads or working surfaces 

 in such a manner that the cheeks of the chairs may pass into the 

 hollow of the head or working surfaces for tlie purposes of support. 

 Fourthly, the mode of rolling railway-bars witli rollers j)laced 

 three high ; as also the mode of rolling by the same means the 

 curved bars used in placing and piling for making his improved 

 railway-bars. Fifthly, the construction of chairs for supporting 

 his improved form of railway-bar. 



U 



Fig. 2. 



for 

 and 





BORING AND SINKING. 



^^ William Gosswvcii (Jard, of Calstock, Cornwall, engineer, 

 '■'■certain Iniprorcnient.i ill machinery and implements fur boring 

 sinldng."—GTiinteil October 21, 1847; Enrolled Aj)ril 21, 1848. 



The object of this invention is to improve the form of the 

 cutting-tool used in boring so as to remove the debris more easily ; 

 and also to work the boring instrument more effectively. It is iu 

 the form of the tool, however, that the chief novelty of 'the inven- 

 tion consists. The cutting ends are made of a concave or inverted 

 cap-like form, divided by a cross into four segments, with apertures 

 leading from these segments into a hollow cylinder or shaft, 

 screwed into a neck of the bit, whereby the bored-out materials 

 are removed out of the way of the cutting edges. Fig. 1 repre- 

 Fig. 1. sents a vertical section of the borer or bit, con- 



structed according to this invention ; and fig. 2, 

 an under plan view of the same, showing the 

 cutting edges. The shaft or hollow part b, forms 

 ^"^^ the receptacle for the bored-out materials. This 

 hollow shaft has the part a, which forms the 

 cutter, screwed or otherwise affixed thereto, it 

 being made of steel or some other hard metal. 

 The cutting face is of a hollow form, or rather 

 of four distinct hollows, the area being divided 

 by a cross into four sectionsrf,rf,rf,rf, (fig. 2), each 

 separate hollow terminating in a hole e, leading 

 to a main opening m, in the trunk of the borer. 

 The outside diameter of the cutter from the 

 cutting-edge to the jioint A, is of a cylindrical 

 form, and from the point h, (fig. 1), to where it 

 joins the hollow shaft, it is tapered about half an 

 inch in order to clear the shaft-part b, and allow 

 it to pass freely after the cutter. The cutting 

 edge, forming the circumference, is bevelled only 

 on the inside; consequently, the material, which 

 becomes detached by the blow, is projected in- 

 wards and upwards, leaving the external part 

 free from obstruction in its working. The pieces 

 detached by the cutting edges, forming the cross, 

 are also projected upwards, and by the concave 

 form of each section are all con\eyed into the 

 openings e, e, e, e, to the main channel m. A 

 valve-seat of brass c, (fig. 2,) is secured in its 

 place by having the stem b, screwed down on its 

 surface. This valve-seat has its opening in the 

 Fig- 2. centre, corresponding with the main channel m, 



and is fitted vvith a ball-valve h. The detached materials pass up 

 the main channel m, into the body of the stem 6, at each successive 

 stroke of the borer ; the quantity of materials detached each time 

 nearly filling the concavities d, d, d,d ; but by being conveyed di- 

 rectly into the receptacle, they are prevented from impeding the 

 operation of the cutters. The valve k, which is prevented from 

 rising too high by a cross-pin in the stem, cuts off any return 

 downwards of the borings. In this manner may the operations of 

 boring be continued until the entire capacity of the stem 6, is 

 filled, when it is to be withdrawn from the boring, and the contents 

 removed, which may be effected by turning the bit upside down, 

 when they will pass out of the aperture, g ; but the patentee 

 prefers, when the detached materials are of a dry description, to 

 keep the tool vertically in its boring position, and by raising up the 

 valve from below, to allow the contents to run out. 



The second part of the invention, which relates to the mode of 

 working the boring-tool, needs little description, as it contains 

 nothing that is novel in principle. The patentee adopts the Chinese 

 mode of boring, by fixing the tool to a chain or rope, and producing 

 the effect by continually lifting it up and letting it fall, the height of 

 the fall being regulated by the resistance to be overcome. There 

 is a lever attached to the chain at the top, to one end of which 

 weights are susjiended, for the purpose of counter-balancing the 

 increased weight of the chain as the depth of the boring increases, 

 so that the working may be rendered as uniform as possible. 



MANUFACTURE OF IRON. 



Alfred Vincent Newton, of Chancery-lane, Middlesex, for 

 '■'■Improved machinery fur blooming iron." (A communication.) — 

 Granted OctoberU, 1847; Enrolled April 14, 1848. 



This invention is for the purpose of more effectually compressing 

 or shingling puddles, balls, or loups of iron into blooms. The im- 



