Benjamin Chew Tilghman (October 26, 1821 July 3, 1901) was an American soldier and inventor. He is best known as the inventor of the process of

sandblasting Sandblasting, sometimes known as abrasive blasting, is the operation of forcibly propelling a stream of abrasive material against a surface under high pressure to smooth a rough surface, roughen a smooth surface, shape a surface or remove su ...

Early life

He was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, on October 26, 1821, the third child of Benjamin and Anne Marie (McMurtie). His father was descended from Richard Tilghman, a

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

in the British Navy; he was related to William Tilghman, Chief Justice of Philadelphia. Tilghman was educated at Bristol College and later at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, where he was graduated with a degree in law in 1839, though he never practiced this profession. With his brother, Richard, he spent much time before the war journeying through Europe, visiting laboratories, chemical works and mills. He was elected as a member to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1871.

Civil War career

At the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, he volunteered as a Captain in the 26th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, rising to Colonel and commander of the 29th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He was severely wounded in the thigh at the

Battle of Chancellorsville The Battle of Chancellorsville, April 30 – May 6, 1863, was a major battle of the American Civil War (1861–1865), and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville campaign. Confederate General Robert E. Lee's risky decision to divide h ...

in 1863 and sent home to recover. Upon his recovery, he accepted the role of Colonel and commander of the 3rd United States Colored Troops. He was brevetted Brigadier General, US Volunteers on April 13, 1865 for "meritorious services".

Invention of the sandblasting process

Legend has it that Tilghman had seen the effect of wind-blown sand on windows in the desert while a general in the army, and that this was the basis of his sandblasting invention. Around 1870, he invented the

Sandblasting Sandblasting, sometimes known as abrasive blasting, is the operation of forcibly propelling a stream of abrasive material against a surface under high pressure to smooth a rough surface, roughen a smooth surface, shape a surface or remove su ...

process and filed a patent for it in the US (US patent 108,408.), detailing many of the applications for which this technique is uniquely suited, such as sharpening files, engraving bottles, cleaning boilers or bringing out the grain in wood. Later that year a patent was issued in the UK. In 1871, at the 40th Exhibition of the American Institute of the City of New York, he was awarded the institute's Great Medal of Honor for his invention; shortly after, he was also awarded the

Elliott Cresson Medal The Elliott Cresson Medal, also known as the Elliott Cresson Gold Medal, was the highest award given by the Franklin Institute. The award was established by Elliott Cresson, life member of the Franklin Institute, with $1,000 granted in 1848. Th ...

by the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and a center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and wikt:statesman, statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin ...

. He refined the technique for various purposes, and in 1877 took out a patent (US patent 252,279) for sharpening files, which he marketed as "Liquid Grindstone". Further patents and developments followed.

Commercial ventures

His first company was formed with his brother in Philadelphia—B. C. & R. A. Tilghman—for the production of chilled iron shot for the stone industry. Around 1879, Benjamin moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

forming a new company, Tilghman's Patent Sand Blast Co. at Gray's Inn Road. This company used one of his patent methods for sharpening files and rasps. From London he moved to

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, the centre of steel production in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

at the time, and later moved to

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, being resident there around 1885, having invested in the machine tool company George Richards Ltd. In 1879, he opened the gates of his new works in Broadheath, Altrincham, which became the hub of the sand blasting industry in Great Britain. This lastly formed company, later called Wheelabrator Tilghman, and since 2005, Wheelabrator Group, still trades.

Other inventions

While working on the sandblasting process, he was also engaged in the working of stone, which caused him to invent a production method for iron shot - pouring a stream of molten metal onto a revolving surface, from which the globules would be propelled into cold water (US patent 187,239, 1872). This material was in great demand for the cutting of stone. Around 1880, he invented the sulfite method of fiber reduction for paper production; this was a critical part of the production of paper from wood pulp, competing with the

Kraft process The kraft process (also known as kraft pulping or sulfate process) is a process for conversion of wood into wood pulp, which consists of almost pure cellulose fibres, the main component of paper. The kraft process involves treatment of wood chip ...

. He also patented a design for a

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

to be propelled "rocket fashion" by a slow burning powder. It was not successful. He was assisted in this venture by his nephew, Benjamin C. Tilghman III."Inventors", page 391 He died on July 3, 1901, and is buried in the churchyard of Church of St. James the Less in

Known Patents

U.S. Patent No. 108,408
- sandblasting (1870)
U.S. Patent No. 133,501
"Improvement in cutting in stone and other hard substances" (1872) - cutting stone by means of steel shot
U.S. Patent No. 174,167
"Improvement in process of producing designs upon hard surfaces" (1875) * U.S. Patent No. 187,239 - production of iron shot (1872) * U.S. Patent no. 252,279 - sharpening of files (1877)
U.S. Patent No. 446,988U.S. Patent No. RE7,499
* U.S. Patent no. 702,040, "Sand-blast tumbling barrel" (attributed to "Benjamin C. Tilghman Jr.") * U.S. patent No. 416,873 "Cutting metal by electricity" (1889) * UK Patent no. 2147 (1870) - sandblasting * UK Patent no. 2900 (1870) - blast wheel * UK Patent no. 13,510 (1885) - roughening iron and steel rolls

Footnotes

References

* "Studies in the Land: The Northeast Corner" by David C Smith (Routlegde 2002) - quoted from Google Book

* *

External links

Wheelabrator Group website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tilghman, Benjamin Chew 1821 births 1901 deaths Businesspeople from Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni Union army colonels 19th-century American inventors Engineers from Pennsylvania Burials at the Church of St. James the Less People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War Military personnel from Philadelphia 19th-century American businesspeople Tilghman family Chew family Members of the American Philosophical Society