US22852A

US22852A - Improvement in photography on wood

Info

Publication number: US22852A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1859-02-08
Anticipated expiration: 1876-02-08

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT ()EEI E.

CHARLES B. BOYLE, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN PHOTOGRAPHY ON WOOD.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 22,852, dated February 8, 1859.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES B. BOYLE, of Albany, in the county of Albany and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Process of Taking Photographic Pictures upon Wood; and I hereby declare the following to be a full and exact description of the same.

In the endeavors which have been made to employ the photographic art in the preparation of blocks for the wood-engraver great difficulty has been experienced from the sinking of the sensitive solution into the substance of the wood beyond the reach of the fixing-solution. Blocks printed in this manner must be engraved under an artificial light, or the picture is destroyed before the completion of the work. To obviate this difficulty the. silver solution has been applied to the block directly in the form of a chloride, which, when dry, pre-' sented a sensitive surface, but lacking sufficient adherence to the wood to admit of its being successfully employed for the purposes of the engraver. The most common method, however, has been to blacken the block and afterward coat it with a film of collodion, albumen, gelatine, wax, orother substance similar to those employed to form a sensitive surface on inorganic substances-such as metal stanceof the wood itself, while the sensitive solution is prevented from penetrating beyond the reach of the fixing-solution afterward applied second, in a method of treatment which admits of the subsequent removal from the wood of all gelatinous or viscid matter without injury to the picture.

The process is as follows: I take the white of an egg, mix it with about halt its volume of water, and beat the whole into a white froth. I then, with a piece of canton-flannel or a stiff brush, carefully moisten the face of the block with this fluid and allow it to sink in and dry by spontaneous evaporation. It is then ready for solution N o. 2, which I makeby dissolving thirty grains of Russian isinglass and two grains of chloride of sodium in one ounce of warm water. When the solution is completed, and while yet warm, it is rubbed over the face of the block, as described, with the firstsolution and allowed to sink in and dry. A dry heat is then applied to the block sufficient to coagulate the albumen which underlies the gelatine within the pores of the wood. Another coat of the gelatine solution may then be applied, which generally presents a glazed appearance on parts of the surface, indicating that the pores of the wood are completely filled. Any excess of gelatine which appears on the surface must be removed by scraping with a knife, or otherwise, and the block is then ready for the silver solution, which is applied in the same manner as to paper, with the exception that sufficient friction must be employed to remove any film of gelatine which may cover the wood, and to bring the silver solution into direct contact with the surface of the wood itself. The printing is then performed precisely as on paper, excepting that the picture is made much darker than it is intended to remain. The solvent or fixing and toning solution is then applied in a heated state, which, in'addition to its customary effect in photographs upon paper, acts by its heat to dissolve and completely remove all the gelatine which has been applied. The pores of the wood are thus freed of everything but the coagulated albumen, and all parts of the picture elfaced, excepting such as were taken directly upon the surface of the wood. It is therefore needful, as before stated, that the picture should be originally printed so deeply as to completely obliterate a large part of its forms, which reappear on the removal of the gelatine.

The remarkable adaptability of the albumen and gelatine as applied by meforthe purposes they are designed to subserve may be summed up in a few words. The albumen is first applied to form, when coagulated by direct heat, an insoluble base within the pores of the wood. The gelatine is then applied in such quantity as to fill the pores without overspreading the surface of the wood in any part, and, being reluctantly soluble in cold water, permits the silver solution to become incorporated with the substance of the wood, but prevents its undue penetration. After the printing is completed the warm fixing solution completely removes the gelatinous matter, which would otherwise cause inconvenience in engraving and stereotyping, and leaves the surface of the wood in its natural state,precisely as the engraver wants it. The coagulated albumen, being free from any viscidproperty, causes no inconvenience to the engraver or stereotyper.

The picture produced by this process is proof against injury from friction, and admits of the surface of the block being sponged or washed,

if necessary, with perfect impunity.

Either the albumen or the gelatine may be used alone with considerable success; but I have found the best results to be produced by their combined use as above described.

' I am aware that both albumen and gelatine have been employed on wood as filmsor coats on which to take pictures by the photographic process; but I know of no instance in which these substances have been applied as above described to prevent the undue penetration of the sensitive solution while the photographic image is taken directly upon the surface of the wood itself.

Iclaim therefore as new and of myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent-- I 1. The described or substantially equivalent method of applying albuminous matter and afterward coagulatingit by heat, so as to form an insoluble base within the pores of the wood, for the purpose set forth.

2. Taking photographic pictures upon wood the pores of which have been filled with gelatine or its equivalent and subsequently removing the gelatine from the block without injury to the picture by the application of a warm solvent.

In testimony of which I hereunto set my hand.

CHAS. B. BOYLE.

Witnesses:

OOTS KNIGHT, W. Y. ATLEE.