surfresearch

thanks in advance.
Andrew.

Thanks for your two questions:
1. Outside of Sydney, who were the manufacturers shaping boards in the early 60s?
This is fairly straightforward - a general list of Australian builders or factories up to about 1965? - see below.

2. Outside of Sydney, who were the manufacturers blowing blanks (and shaping boards) in the early 60s?
Not so easy, but far more interesting.

From memory (that is, I have read it but do not own a copy), this is something that was not covered (but should have been) in ...
Warren, Andrew and Gibbson, Chris:Surfing Places, Surfboard Makers
Craft, Creativity, and Cultural Heritage in Hawai'i, California, and Australia
University of Hawai'i, 2014.

Some of the following is common knowledge, some based on obscure bits from conversations, and some conjecture.
Note that it is not immediately clear which of the early 1960s factories blew their own blanks, and it is possible that a small number of blanks may have been imported from the US.

To make a start ...
Following the introduction of the Malibu board in late 1956, the design was first replicated in timber and marine-plywood, commonly known as an Okinuee (Ocker- Newi?).
Leading the way were established board (and surf-ski) builders Gordon Woods, Barry Bennnett and Bill Wallce in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs,
These boards were widely copied, the materials were readily available and the design easily replicated by any experienced carpenter in a home workshop.
By 1959, plans for a "Plywood 10 ft.Surf Board" were available from Vel Aqua, a Victorian timber and joinery company.

Fibreglass and resin were already being imported for the boat building industry and supplies of suitable balsa wood, principally from Milner's in Melbourne, became available sometime before the end of 1957.
Thereafter, fibreglassed balsa boards were built.in Sydney by Gordon Woods, Barry Bennnett, Bill Wallace, Bill Clymer, Joe Larkin, Danny Keyo, Graham Ferris, Brian Jackson, Norm Casey, Wally Carle, Scott Dillon, the McDonagh's and Roger "Duck" Keiran, possibly in Queensland.

By early 1958, balsa boards where made by Sydney manufacturers were available in sports stores, such as Mick Simmons, and, before he began production.Adelaide in the early 1960s, John Arnold was retailing boards from Brookvale's Barry Bennett.
This is the likely source of the "malibu surf board made from balsa wood coated with fibre glass" presented as the principal trophy to J. Brown (Grange SLSC) at that year's South Australian Surf. Life-saving Championships.
Alternatively, it was possible to buy a kit (balsa blank, glass and resin) for "home assembly," such as the first board shaped by Midget Farrelly.

At this stage surfboard building was still largely a back-yard industry, but the increasing use of chemicals may have began to cause some concern for the residents and authorities in urban areas, and the move was on to the wild green pastures of Brookvale (Beloved Board-land).
Board building was becoming an industrial venture, and while the number of manufacturers increased, many of the early backyard builders became valuable employees.

By 1959 the McDonagh's and Dillon began experimenting with Coolite foam glassed with epoxy resin and by 1960 it was clear that foam was beginning to replace balsa in California and Hawaii.
For the Brookvale Six (Woods, Bennnett, Wallace, Keyo, Dillon, McDonagh) their initial explorations into blowing blanks, which carried an significant element of risk, went largely unregulated.
In the south, Jackson-Cansdell and Graham King blew blanks inland from Cronulla.
These early blanks often had "irregularities" and full gel-coats were commonly used to hide the imperfections.

The ability to blow blanks gave the larger manufacturers a distinct competitive edge and an extra income-stream from on-selling their blanks, although some declined to supply backyard builders.
In 1962, Gordon Woods was one of the first to introduce CO2 water blown foam, allowing a substantial improvement in construction and finish.
The demand for balsa boards dropped, and by 1962 they cost less than a foam board.

With an ever increasing demand, investors from outside the surfing fraternity opened a number of factories in Sydney; notably Pacific Star by Dunlop in Brookvale and Ron, initially in Belmore, and they probably blew their own blanks.
Ron was.perhaps the biggest Australian producer of the of the early 1960s, exporting to South Africa and the US.
Blanks were apparently supplied (from Brookvale?) to Weiss Surfboards' factory in Marrickville, and to Keen-Davis, North Sydney.
While these 'Westie" brands were generally derided by knowledgeable surfers, the factories provided extra income for experienced craftsmen and an entry into the industry for others, including Geoff McCoy, Frank Latta, Warren Cornish, Kevin Brennan, and Gordon Merchant.

Around 1964 the industry was changed profoundly when Barry Bennett, taking the lead from Hobie Alter and Gordon Clarke in California, created a specialist foam blank production company, initially Polytron Foam, later to be named Dion Chemicals.
Thereafter, independent blank production quickly ceased, and it became standard practice to procure from Bennetts' Polytron/Dion, or a similar blank specialist such Graham King at Kirrawee and later Burfords in Queensland.
In 1965, Poltron listed the companies that used their blanks:

QUEENSLAND
JOE LARKIN, COOLANGATTA
RAY WOOSLEY, BRISBANE
COAST SURF SHOP, MERMAID BEACH
SAFARI SURFBOARDS, MERMAID BEACH
HAYDEN KENNY, ALEXANDER HEADLANDS

VICTORIA
GEORGE RICE, MELBOURNE
VIC SURF CENTRE, MELBOURNE
BELLERINE MARINE, GEELONG
FRED PYKE, MELBOURNE

SOUTH AUSTRALIA
ASHLEY SURFBOARDS, ADELAIDE

WESTERN AUSTRALIA
CORDINGLEY BROS., PERTH

NEW SOUTH WALES
BARRY BENNETT, BROOK VALE
DALE SURFBOARDS, BROOK VALE
SCOTT DILLON, BROOKVALE
BRIAN JACKSON, CRONULLA
KEYO SURFBOARDS, BROOKVALE
MACDONAGH SURFBOARDS, BROOKVALE
SAM SURFBOARDS, NEWCASTLE
SHANE SURFBOARDS, EASTWOOD
MIDGET FARRELLY, PALM BEACH
MICK DOOLEY, BROOKVALE
BILL WALLACE, BROOKVALE

ANOTHER LIST, SOME DATES APPROXIMATE.

Dale Surfboards, Brookvale, circa 1963
and
Gordon and Smith Surfboards, Taren Point, 1965
Hancock Custom Surfboards, Riverwood (Sydney), 1964.

NSW
Sam Egan Surfboards, Newcastle, 1963
Bay Area Surfboards (Rick Bennett), Byron Bay,1965.
Collins Surfboards, North Wollongong, 1963.
Gary Birdsall Surfboards, Fairy Meadow (Wollongong), circa 1964

Queensland.
Joe Larkin Surfboards, Kirra, 1961, first blanks from Gordon Woods.
Hayden Surfboards, Alexandra Headland, 1962
First board built in grandfather's cow bales at Maryborough from a foam blank and materials supplied by Gordon Woods.
Graeme Merrin Surfboards,Tweed Heads, 1964
Safari Surfboards (Laurie Hohensee), Mermaid Beach,1963.
Gull Surfboards (Ray Woosley), Brisbane,1962
Later Woosleys Surfboards, 1963
Bob Clapp Surfboards, Surfers' Paradise, 1962.
Adlers Surfboards, Brisbane, 1964
G Surfboards (Geoff Godby), Mermaid Beach, circa 1964
Cord Surfboards, Caloundra, 1965?
Mick Carey Surfboards, Currumbin, 1965?

Western Australia
Len Dibben Surfboards, North Freemantle, 1960
Hawke Surfboards, Osbourne Park, 1963
Cordingley Bros Surfboards, Mosman Park, then Subiaco, 1958

South Australia
Jay Bee Surfboards, St. Marys, circa 1964.
John Arnold Surfboards, Adelaide, early 1960s
Burford Surfboards, Grange, circa 1962
Surfboards by Dolphin, (Dolphin Plastics), Adelaide, 1964?

Victoria
John Saffron Surfboards, Geelong, 1959?
Tantau Surfboards (Vic Tanau), Moorabin, 1957
Gill Surfboards, South Melbourne, circa 1960
George Rice Surfboards, Fairfied, 1962
Tourney Surfboards, Victoria? circa 1963
Young Custom Shaped Surfboards, St. Kilda, 1964
Fred Pyke Custom Built Surfboards, Brunswick, circa 1963386571