Blog
In Memoriam: Mike Jackson, VP of IPS Ceramics USA
Posted by Tom Evans on 12-10-2021
It is with deep sorrow and regret that we must announce that Mike Jackson, Vice President of IPS Ceramics USA, passed away on Tuesday 5th October 2021. Born in England, Mike and his family moved to America in 2004. Initially working for Dyson, he became IPS Ceramics’ main American representative before becoming the Vice President of IPS Ceramics USA in 2016. He was a beloved colleague and friend to everyone at IPS Ceramics and to his customers, many of whom…
Five Tips for Assembling Your Kiln Car Structure
Posted by Tom Evans on 30-09-2021
The centrepiece of any kiln firing setup is your kiln car – the strong combination of kiln furniture pieces which securely holds your ware as it gets fired. Depending on the complexity of your setup or the amount of ware you have to fire, assembling your kiln car can feel like a logic puzzle and maintaining it can be hard work. To help, we’ve collated our top five tips to ensure your kiln car gets assembled correctly and remains dependable…
Explaining Cordierite Kiln Furniture
Posted by Callum on 28-08-2021
The term “kiln furniture” describes a range of products used by many industries to support items during heat treatment processes. If you have a ceramic item that needs firing in a kiln or furnace, you will probably need kiln furniture to ensure it keeps its shape, doesn’t break during firing, and don’t stick to/damage your kiln. IPS offers an immensely popular range of kiln furniture products made from cordierite. What types of products are in the range, what do they…
How is Silicon Carbide Made?
Posted by Callum on 19-08-2021
Silicon carbide is one of the most common materials used in the production of high-performance kiln furniture. It is often used in applications involving temperatures above 1300°C, its high resistance to creep (hot bending) ensuring a long service life. How do you make such a strong, dependable material and who helped develop it? Let’s find out: The Acheson Process Most of the silicon carbide used in industry is manufactured through the Acheson Process. The process was invented by Edward Goodrich Acheson…
What are Alumina Tubes Used For?
Posted by Callum on 11-08-2021
Alumina Tubes, as their name implies, are tubes made out of alumina. They are used for a wide range of industrial applications due to their diverse properties. What are these properties, which industries use them, and how are they used? Let’s find out: What is Alumina? The term ‘Alumina’ is just a short way of saying ‘Aluminium Oxide’. Making up around 15% of the chemical composition of the Earth’s crust, Aluminium Oxide is a very common material that can be…
The Art of the Office: Redesigning the IPS Conference Room
Posted by Tom Evans on 27-07-2021
As Covid has moved people away from face-to-face meetings and towards the conference call, we decided that our Conference Room needed jazzing up with a new feature wall. Here’s the story of how we performed that jazz. Origins IPS offers conference calls to all our customers using Zoom, Teams and other platforms, allowing us to directly communicate with them no matter where they are in the world. Due to the pandemic, these calls have never been more frequent. The view…