Holmes Engine and Railway Works
Mr. T. W. Dodds of Holmes Engine and Railway Works, Rotherham patented some improvements in the treatment and manufacture of iron and steel.
In a publication dated November, 1853, he specified claims that
- A general arrangement of machinery
- The conversion of iron into steel, wholly or partially, by the use of a carbonaceous fuel or a mixture of soda ash, soda, potash, pearlash, or other alkaline matter, and carbonate or bi-carbonate of lime and charcoal.
- The mode of converting iron, wholly or partially, into steel by the use of a compound of soda ash, lime and charcoal, or any mixture of alkaline matter with carbonate or bi-carbonate of lime and charcoal.
- The mode of treating iron partially or wholly converted metal, by plunging it when red hot, or thereabouts into a wet or dry bath – that is, either into water, water impregnated with carbonaceous matter, liquid ammonia, or ammoniacal liquor, a solution of potash, or hydrate of potash, or into a mass of dry carbonaceous material, as highly carbonised sand, charcoal and soda ash, or other carbonaceous matter.
- The mode of arranging and working the furnaces of conversion, wherin the retorts or converting chambers may be charged and discharged whilst they are in working condition, without being permitted to cool.
- The mode of adjusting the anvil level of steam-hammers by means of a hydrostatic cylinder or chamber.
- The mode of working hammers or tilt levers so as to strike in both directions by the use of a rotary crank shaft connected therewith.
- The use of an atmospheric buffer for increasing the rapidity of the hammer strokes. The use of coke or other partially elastic material at the points of metallic connection of hammer details for the purposes described.
Source: Scientific American. / Volume 9, Issue 9, Nov. 12, 1853
In 1865 Thomas Weatherburn Dodds and Emma were living at Ordnance Villa, Psalters Lane, Rotherham, when daughter Margaret was christened at Kimberworth.