At Inglenook Tile Design, we are in the middle of lots of exciting changes and expansion of our products and our equipment!
New Product Development
This week and last, we are surging ahead with the development of our two new floor tile collections – the Castles and Abbeys Collection and the Old World Collection. Much of last week I spent deciding which designs to offer first, and then sizing them for the molds.
New Equipment
To make these new tiles, we needed a ram press, so about a month ago, I flew to Taos, NM to look at the press and arrange for the shipment to Pennsylvania after several months of talking with its former owners. There has been a lot of anticipation around here about having it running! Finally, last week, the electricians were here to run lines to our new ram press, and this week we are ready for the mechanic. Watch our blog for updates as we create the first samples of our new tile designs. We will also use it to make roof tile in the future.
We also ordered a much larger gas kiln from Bailey Ceramics last week, and can hardly wait to get it! This kiln will allow us to increase our production of tiles in the brown and deep red tones, the beautiful Providence, Mount Gretna, and Honeybrook color mixes. The picture to the right shows an example of a Bailey gas kiln-ours will be much larger.
This new kiln will be easier to load and unload, and we won’t have to babysit it until 10:00 PM on the days we fire, like the one we have now. I should have bought a Bailey kiln last time! Several people would fit in the kiln we have, so I guess we could make a room out of the new one. We are also ordering a second electric slab roller from Bailey, so that we can add another line of making tiles (we love the one we have).
New Installations: Visiting Customers
Emily and I visited our customers, Walt and Tandy, last week. Walt and I posed for a picture with their floor. Next week, we will be visiting another customer who has our tiles on both interior and exterior areas of his home. Watch for this blog posting and and maybe a video on YouTube.
New Veteran
Welcome to Tom – another veteran who started today. He recently returned, injured, from Afghanistan, and is on the road to recovery. We are happy to have him!
New Kittens!
On a personal note, Emily drove to Buffalo, NY, to pick up her two new Siberian kittens. They are regaling the family with their playful antics! Visit her breeder’s website. See the picture of our new little friends.
As you see, we are really growing here! Subscribe to our blog to keep updated on all the changes and our new products and pictures.
Happy 4th of July! We hope you have a wonderful time with your families!
Best wishes,
Julie
