Muntz metal
Muntz metal (also known as yellow metal
The alloy must be worked hot and is used today for corrosion-resistant machine parts. Alpha-beta (also called duplex) metals contain both the α and β phases. The α phase refers to a
Its original application was as a replacement for
Company history
Muntz's new metal contained more copper, less zinc, and a bit of iron not present in a similar 56:44 alloy patented by William Collins in 1800. Production began on Water Street, Birmingham, but moved to Swansea in 1837. In 1842 he bought the French Walls Works in
With Muntz successfully supervising the manufacturing operations, by 1840 Muntz’s Patent Metal Company employed 30 men to smelt and roll the alloy and was producing 2,000 tons yearly. Three years later the Company had over 200 men producing 3-4000 tons yearly at £8 per ton profit. By then the Grenfells had left the partnership, for the agreement with Pascoe Grenfell & Sons had been terminated with some acrimony in 1842. When Muntz’s patent expired in 1846, they and others began making fastenings and sheathing to the Muntz patent at will.[citation needed]
Muntz died in 1857, to be succeeded by his eldest son, also called George Fredrick, who sold the business in 1864 to a joint stock company, Muntz's Metal Co. Ltd. In 1921 the company was bought by Elliott's Metal Company, which became part of ICI's Imperial Metals division (now IMI plc) in 1928.[5]
See also
References
- ISBN 1-58544-451-0.
- ^ Muntz's British patent of 22 October 1832 is reproduced verbatim in Webster, Thomas (1844). "Muntz' Patent". Reports and Notes of Cases on Letters Patent for Inventions. Vol. II. London: Stevens & Sons. pp. 85–6. Retrieved 19 April 2021., together with reports of all the English litigation on the patent.
- ^ Muntz's US patent, issued on 22 October 1832, was among the thousands destroyed in the 15 December 1836 Patent Office fire but was reported in Volume 12 (New Series) of the Journal of the Franklin Institute at p. 195 (1833) http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uva.x002092353?urlappend=%3Bseq=203
- ^ James Watson (21 May 2007). "Blaze Guts Cutty Sark". Birmingham Mail. p. 5.
- ^ McCarthy, M. (2005). Ship's Fastenings: from sewn boat to steamship. Texas A&M Press. College Station.
External links
- National Pollutant Inventory - Copper and compounds fact sheet
- Improved metal sheathing, Patent, 1832
- Improved manufacture of bolts and fasteners, Patent, 1832
- Manufacture of sheathing metal, Patent, 1846
- On copper, 1852
- Sheathing, 1867
- Preservation of the bottom of iron ships, 1874
- Prices for anti-fouling compounds, 1874