Beta Tester: Meriden, NH

It's nearing the end of February and we are still working on getting few more Ideal Steel Hybrid beta stoves out in the field for the last couple months of burning.

Saying Goodbye to Charlie Wolz

We received the very sad news today that a very active customer of ours, Charlie Wolz, passed away on February 8th.

We first met Charlie in person in May of 2012 when he and his wife, Maribeth, came to see our stoves. This meeting was just the beginning of our relationship with Charlie.  Charlie went on to purchase  a Fireview stove, but due to the age (circa 1840) and size of the home, decided to utilize the 6 month buy back, to exchange the Fireview in for the larger Progress.

Charlie's dog, Benny, with the original Fireview

Throughout the two short years of knowing Charlie, we had many conversations about his stoves and wood burning in general,  and Charlie became a big proponent of our company and our work on the Ideal Steel Stove, and was always at the ready to offer a helpful thought or suggestion. It's customers like Charlie who have helped to to make the Woodstock Soapstone story brighter and richer.

Benny and his Progress Hybrid

After Charlie & Maribeth came up to exchange stoves, we received the following email:

"Thanks for all your time today... We had a blast! Beer was good at the 7 Barrels Brewery... as was the food... Had the Dublin Brown Ale, yummy! Thanks for the cricket.... I’ll bring you some growlers next time I stop in!"

      Charlie & Maribeth Wolz

Charlie, it looks like we'll have to put the growlers on hold for a while.

To read Charlie Wolz's obituary and to write in his guest book, please visit the links below:
Charlie Wolz Obituary 
Charlie Wolz Guest Book

New Beta Tester: Newbury, VT

When Doug and his wife Amanda came in to pick out the colors for their Ideal Steel beta stove, Amanda quickly took over the reins to create a color combination that would work well in their home.

New Beta Tester in Goffstown, NH

Two weeks ago we got Nick, another beta tester, up and running with a beta version of the Ideal Steel Hybrid.

Nick was the first to submit his own artwork of a maple leaf and mountains motif, which Nick generated using AutoDesk. With a little bit of translation on our side we were able to get a file that Nick and his wife were happy with and since we had already designed and cut a maple leaf andiron, we were able to pair an already cut file with Nick's design.

Bow, NH Beta Tester: Stove Design

One of the interesting aspects of our Ideal Steel Hybrid, is that the side medallion, burners, and andirons can be customized.

Kurt, our beta tester in Bow NH, decided to submit a photograph for a customized art set. Below is the file Kurt originally sent,  followed by the side medallion and andiron files we created. The center burner of the stove mimics the side medallion, and the andiron design was taken from the simple leaf like ends on the spiral.