"News from the Horizon"
Winter 2010 - Vol 2, Issue 1
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Item of the Month ------
HORIZON's newest offering
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Walnut Slabs - incredible widths and interesting grain. We have been nurturing this item since early 2008 and it's finally earned its ranking as one of HORIZON's special 'Items of the Month'. Take a look at this massive material!
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Ridgway's Chainsaw Carving Rendezvous returns for the 11th year!
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This event, which has become an annual highlight of activity in our corner of the Pennsylvania hardwood forests, was spearheaded by the inspiring folks at the local "Appalachian Arts Studio". It has turned into a carving extravaganza hosting nearly 200 carvers from all over the world. The artists use one of our favorite mediums, WOOD, to express their creative talents. The chainsaws roar, the sawdust flies and huge hunks of wood are magically transformed from logs to sculptures right before your eyes. The unique event has garnered international attention and has elevated the art of chainsaw carving to an entirely new level, Looking for something to do in the bleakness of February? Look no further...... Check the website for details. |
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Comments on the Industry....
(or other topics worth mentioning)
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In the last news brief I discussed the installation of a new and improved biomass burner, our current cooperative project with Abbott Furnace. I just want to take this opportunity to bring you up to speed with what has proven to be a very exciting and successful endeavor.
One of the coolest features about our new system is the ability to remotely monitor, evaluate and operate the entire process from the silo to the ash. By interfacing the main control panel with our server any of us at the company can view what is going on in the boiler room from our PC's, laptops or Blackberries, exactly as if we were standing there. We get alarms, can view the problem, make adjustments, see the results and go back to what we were doing. Now don't get the impression that we are personally driving this machine. It is remarkably self controlled, but all of these features are possible. The visual monitoring can be mesmerizing...sort of like watching a  campfire...and if you want, you can poke it. If you are interested click the image of our control screen for a better look. You can see a bit of what I am talking about. Our next newsletter will contain a link to the "live" version of the control panel.
We are now into our third month of operation and so far this
system goes way beyond what I had hoped for.
It quietly and cleanly does its job of generating heat for any load we
put on it. Along with six large kilns we heat (text continues................)
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Sappy Walnut Flooring.....
..... "scrap" becomes "spectacular"!
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Every once in awhile we have a gift in our hands and don't even realize it. Not wanting to waste any of our precious raw materials, we had been pondering just what the perfect application could be for the sappy walnut jacket boards that result when we saw our highly sought-after walnut logs. Due to their unusual color variations these jacket boards are often ignored by the customer, although coming from our high grade of walnut they are clear, solid and nearly knot-free. We use a 'through and through' technique for cutting, making it inevitable that the first and last cuts on every log, known as the jacket boards, contain the walnut's lighter colored sapwood. These pieces have the same strong, solid characteristics as the rest of the wood, but maintain a variation of color that is not desired by our typical walnut consumer. We were convinced that this interesting walnut characteristic could be highlighted instead of hidden. Hmmm, what to do?
It just takes a bit of ingenuity and some creative thinking. One of our customers came up with a good solution. Michael Bayerl has installed some strikingly beautiful, unique walnut floors created from HORIZON's sappy walnut. They turned out to be real attention grabbers, in addition to being a very economical way to create a fantastic hardwood floor! Take a look at more photos of the work in progress and the spectacular end (or close to the end!) results.
(continue................................)
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and on a more personal note........
Meet the "Smiles behind the Voices"......
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 Horizon'soffice is a busy 
place. In addition to maintaining the paper trail for all of our wood as it moves through the log yard, mill, kilns and re-grade area there are countless other tasks being juggled. In spite of the quick pace they maintain, the capable office crew always manages to provide great customer service to callers and visitors. Perhaps you have already "met" our team during a phone call to the company. If so, we are sure you will know what we mean when we say there are "smiles in the voices". These ladies aim to please! DeAnna Brooks, our office manager is on the left and Tama Foster is on the right.
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SPECIAL OFFER - a great price on 4/4 Curly Cherry for the first 3 customers!!!
| | The first three customers to place an order may add an additional one or two sets of 4/4 curly cherry selected from the webstore for a special price of $5.50/bf. (Five Star sets ***** are excluded from this offer). Orders must be placed between now and March 15, 2010. Give us a call for more information. Take advantage of this opportunity to plan ahead for your next exciting project!!! |
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