There’s nothing like fire to sharpen a man’s nerves, especially when he’s surrounded by vats of chemicals all day. So I wasn’t surprised when Corey Waters, owner of the newly established Glass Hut in Wollongong, gave me the fire drill early on in my visit. “There’s absolutely no smoking in here. No flames, no ignition sources, nothing,” said Corey with emphasis. He then mentioned the recent Pukas factory fire in Europe and I realised his concern was well placed; between the foam blanks, 24 gallon tubs of polyester resin, and vats of acetone his workplace is as volatile as a Molotov.

“We’ve got two fire escapes, fire extinguishers on the walls, and,” Corey repeated himself, “under no circumstances can there be a flame in here.”

Safety measures sorted, we marched on in.

…

When the surfboard industry started in Australia each factory was its own self-contained unit. Under the one roof was a shaper, glasser, sander, and the usual crew of dogsbodies. It didn’t matter whether the factory was located in Brookvale, Gold Coast, Torquay, or here in Wollongong, the setup was largely the same - each step in the process was completed in house.

In time the system began to change: a backyarder might rent a shaping bay, a smaller company may get their boards glassed at a bigger factory. The surfboard industry became a classic cottage industry and it needed to accommodate operations of all sizes. Resources were shared, ideas too.

In the last twenty years the restructuring has only sped up to the point where stand alone factories are the exceptions and not the norm. Increasingly common is the factory that’s shared by a number of labels and there’s a three main reasons for that. Firstly, soaring coastal property prices mean it’s cheaper to pool the rent rather than shell out for your own space. Secondly, the shaping machine has changed how the work is done. And lastly, glassers and sanders are harder to find than they once were.

The Glass Hut is a response to all three, and as we’re discussing the new biz model Corey walks me towards the beating heart of his factory - a flash new AKU Shaper shaping machine. Sounding every bit the new sports car owner, Corey rattles off the stats and I nod my head in some sort of agreement. I’m no numbers guy so I ask what makes this machine so good.

“It’s far more accurate than any other machine out there,” says Corey enthusiastically. “And it flips and matches the sides with ease. And it’s fast.” It’s even painted red.

Each point is noted with a nod of the head by Corey’s offsider, Dennis Wright. “We call him Yoda,” says Corey. “He knows this machine as good as anyone.” Slightly built with a sage-like bearing, Dennis is the cool yang to Corey’s hot yin. He’s worked in board factories all his life, he can shape, glass, and sand, but Dennis’ forte is his otherworldly knowledge of the AKU shaper. He’s the part man/part machine that makes this factory sing.

(Photo Jordan Moran)

Dennis also runs his own label which operates out of the Glass Hut - as do five or six other shapers. The shaping bays are located upstairs on the mezzanine level. There’s a series of them in a row, then next to them is the spray room, and across the corridor the laminating space, followed by the board racks. It’s all very streamlined and efficient. Block your nose and squint and you could be in an Ikea store.

“We’re only doing about thirty boards a week at the moment,” says Corey. “But that’ll soon be fifty and after that….” he hesitates not wanting to be bold.  “Well...we’d like to be doing a hundred boards a week eventually.” The ambition is on show. And why not? A similar hub and spoke operation has worked for the Glass Lab up on the Gold Coast.

A not insignificant factor in the way the Glass Hut works is that Corey is responsible for the workflow of other people. If the demand for each shaper goes up it still has to be run through the one shaping machine and the one laminating room. Is there a risk of bottlenecks?

“Well there’s four more gears in that shaping machine,” says Corey again sounding like a man jangling the keys to a new sports car. Dennis nods to show it’s possible. “And we’re gonna extend the laminating room back to there,” he indicates a point halfway across the mezzanine level that would double the size of the glassing space.

(Photo Jordan Moran)

Dylan Perese runs DP Surfboards out of the Glass Hut. He’s got his own shaping bay in there. “This is all a bit of a change for me,” says DP.  “I’ve always made my own boards in factories or sheds that I’ve built myself.”

“Down here though, I simply shape the blank and put it on the rack [to be glassed]. I don’t have to order cloth, fin plugs, whatever...I shape the blank and pay for the result.” The difference now, besides being in someone else’s factory, is that DP has more time to talk to customers or increase his output. He can grow his business without taking on more employees.

Sharing floor space has its advantages too. “I’m like a hawk when it comes to boards,” says DP. “I can’t walk down the beach without picking up someone’s board.” Working under the same roof as other shapers puts him in close contact with what others are doing. “I can’t say it changes what I’m doing but it’s great checking boards, talking design, even telling stories. It’s inspiring.”

****

The smell of polyester resin pervades the Glass Hut, a not wholly unpleasant aroma to my senses as it carries the memories of visiting shaping factories when I was young. However, it’s not just the structure of factories - from self-contained units to a share economy like the Glass Hut - that’s changing. The materials that boards are made from are changing, most typically from PU/polyester to EPS/epoxy. Unofficial stats put current estimates of non-PU surfboards at 30% of the worldwide total and that number is growing.

Of concern to manufacturers is that it’s difficult to run both polyester and epoxy laminating out of the one factory. Acetone, for example, is ubiquitous in a factory laminating with polyester but it can’t be used with epoxy resin and it’s straight up kryptonite on EPS blanks. Glassing and curing times are also vastly different which would negate any workflow efficiency.

I ask Corey about the increasing use of epoxies and what it means for the Glass Hut. He smiles and points out the front door and across the carpark. Next door is a Muay Thai kickboxing gym and beyond that are a few more units the same size as the Glass Hut. They all appear empty.

“I want to take a lease out on one of those units and replicate all this - except it’ll be for epoxy surfboards,” says Corey. “You’ve gotta move with the times.”

//STU NETTLE with additional help from JORDAN MORAN