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Tile Production Equipment

Tile Production Consulting

Peter Pugger continues to expand their engineering and process depth by strategically aligning themselves with John Williams.

For the past 35 years John Williams has made a living working with clay. Majoring in engineering, he has since combined his knowledge with his love for pottery and the arts. For 20 years during the 60's and early 70's, John was a production potter doing large wholesale and retail shows. He eventually expanded into tile making and the machines used to make tile.

In 1983, he was was accepted into the first NEA program called "Arts and Industry" where he worked at the Kohler factory in Sheboygan, Wisconsin learning industrial methods. When he returned home to Columbus, Ohio, he took these large scale industrial concepts and began scaling them down to the needs of the studio potter and tile maker. While living in Columbus, he built his first studio scale ram press. John had the fortunate opportunity to befriend the original owners of Ram Products and worked with their help to make his first studio model. John went on to build many presses for potters and tile makers throughout the east coast.

After moving to California in 1986, John and his wife started Tile Design Studios and then in 1991, together with three partners, formed Stellar Ceramic, which later became Sonoma Tilemakers in Windsor Ca., currently the largest manufacturer of handcrafted tiles in the United States. During his 16 years as owner and founder of Sonoma Tilemakers, he designed and set up all aspects of the tile production, creating various forming techniques, developed custom machines and processes that brought efficiency and artistic methods to the large scale manufacturer. John has also worked the past sixteen years in collaboration with Peter Pugger Manufacturing to bring these machines to life.

John is now offering his services to your business. He can assist in fine tuning or developing a glaze pallet, moulding systems, roller hearth and car kiln troubleshooting as well as inventing and building mechanisms that aid in the efficiency of your tile or pottery production. He will make the process fit the scale of your business with the growth and goals that you have in mind.

John is currently working in collaboration with Peter Pugger Mfg to develop the next generation power extruder, ram press, and tile making equipment packages. John is available to discuss your tile making ideas and concepts with the desire to bring them to life. Please contact Peter Pugger to schedule an appointment with John.