Boston Paper - The Bower-Barff Process

Any process which has for its object the preservation of iron and steel from rust, and which will make these metals more applicable than they now are to the requirements of mankind, will be sure to meet with attention from members of this association, and from all those who are either engaged in the extraction of the ore, its reduction to metal, or the subsequent application of the metal itself. It is, perhaps, not too much to say that when iron and steel are rendered secure against corrosion and decay, they will be used to an indefinitely greater extent than they now are. The whole realm of science has, therefore, been explored in the attempt to discover some method by which the formed article may be preserved, leaving its strength undiminished by the destructive action of rust. Paints, oils, varnishes, glazes, enamels, galvanizing, electro-depositing and what is called "inoxidizing" are among the many systems now in vogue to effect the preservation of iron and steel from the corrosive action of air and water. The object of this paper is to show what may he done in protecting iron and steel from rust by forming upon their surfaces a film of magnetic oxide by an inexpensive process. It is no new thing to be told that magnetic oxide of iron is unaffected by exposure to the atmosphere or to salt water for any length of time. The black sand of Taranaki, in New Zealand, is a sufficiently good example of this. Dr. Percy has pointed out that the reason why Russian sheet iron is less affected by exposure than ordinary sheet iron is because of a coating of magnetic oxide; but this was not known