Blog

IPS Ceramics and the Red Street Condors: Looking Good!

Posted by Tom Evans on 04-11-2021

IPS Ceramics, sponsors of the Red Street Condors (a local under-13's football team), were presented with a framed copy of the team’s new shirt by team manager Nikki Rackham. [gallery columns="1" size="medium" ids="5537"] The Red Street Condors are a local under-13’s football team based in Chesterton, Staffordshire, who play in the North Staffs Junior Youth League. IPS’ sponsorship has allowed them to update the design of their kit and provide a full kit to all of their players. The kit,…

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 to produce high-performance kiln furniture. It is often found in applications involving temperatures above 1300°C and its high resistance to creep (hot bending) ensures 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

Covid has moved people away from face-to-face meetings and towards the conference call. As such, we have decided that our conference room needs jazzing up with a new feature wall. It is a fine art, redesigning an office or conference room. You have to strike the right balance between professionalism and approachability, but we think we have done just that. Here is the story of how IPS Ceramics performed the perfect office redesign. Origins of the Idea IPS offers conference…