Late 70's/Early 80's Shapers

Steeno · Post by **Steeno** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:44 pm

stevie wilson......i used to compete against him in the early 80s....I ran into him years ago at Narrawalli...he used to rip

waka · Post by **waka** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 1:17 am

Steve ' Bucky' Wilson use to rip

....my hero and arch rival ! Both of us was sponsered by Carey Surfboards at one stage.....in fact my first ever kneeboard was a Carey, and it was one of Steve's old boards as well ( twin fin)

$125.00 . Yes , Steve does live down my neck of the woods, and it was one of Berts comps at Narrawalla that i last seen him as well Steen

I can remember walking in Skippy's factory around 82' and first meeting Ed Zinnot...and seeing about 6 brand new kneeboards (clear)in the racks..they were $320.00, and he cut me a deal and done a custom for $280.00...so stoked with that board, a twinny and the next one he made me was the start of twin fins with the small stabilizing fin in the back.
Barry Taylor use to make sick kneeboards for my cuz, (single fins) and he was based here on the south coast at Nowra.

griz · Post by **griz** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 5:11 am

I can also vouch for Steve Wilson`s prowess as I first encountered him in Nias `82.He was riding the first 3 fin kneelo I`d ever seen , although a couple of surfboards there were thrusters , the majority (myself included) were on singles.Having seen what he was doing at that time, when I got home I could`nt ditch my single quick enough.Makes sense how he got the "bucky" title as the first time I seen him paddle out I remember thinking to my self who`s this tool paddling out carrying a block of wax in his gob!Will post a couple of very nice shots of him of that time when I get a chance.If you see him around Waka say g`day for me,he should remember the only other kneelo there.I ended up getting Parkesy to knock me up a board to the same specs as that Carey of Steves and never looked back.

stevea · Post by **stevea** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 8:16 pm

Hey Albert,
Seems to me you have a habit of kicking off great threads ,im enjoying reading everyones contribution brings back some great memories of times and places and people instrumental in shaping the life ive led from that first wave on a surfoplane to that 10 second barrel.........s*&^ ive never had a 10sec barrel (dreaming is free) or thats what im told,but im not dead yet and im thinking 5 2sec ones will do me fine
Riq Stewie is due back in Indo any month now
Ross will be great to sink a few binnies with you
Tony enjoying your re entry onto these pages Ross Bullard has got to be one my all time favourite kneeboard surfers a true charger and say hi to all the guys i know at the drink Cronulla presos were always a great time
Geo the surfoplane on the site you posted was my first surfcraft the BB kneeboard circa 1963 was the next and then well i have i dont have total recall but i wouldnt want to surf them

jamie · Post by **jamie** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:51 am

Interesting trivia
Peter and John Ware
David Parkes
Craig Macdonald
Mike Novakov(buffing)
Wayne Hutch
Bruce Hart

all worked out of the same building on Harbord Rd at brookvale, at different times going back to the late 70's.
There may have been others - bruce would probably know?

Bruce is working in a new building next door to this day.

Steve Artis
Wayne Hutch
Albert Whitemen
Dave Parkes(breifly)
Bruc Hart
all shaped boards for Terry Fitz at Hot Buttered over at least 15 odd years.

Steve Zoeller
Steve Artis
Peter Ware
John Ware
Craig Mcdonald
Dave Parkes
Wayne Hutch
Albert Whitemen
Bruce Hart
all shaped kneelos in Brookvale at different times, I am sure there were others(including some i mentioned previously) but these guys were kneelos who shaped kneelos predomoninantly or at least wished they did when they werent sanding.

I got a custom single fin rounded pin from Barry Bennetts shaped by Russell Head in 1979 or there abouts, not sure if he had done many before then, at 14 years of age I didnt know too much and got one from Bennetts cause my dad had an account at Dion and that meant we didnt pay sales tax, and dad might have claimed the board was really a drum of resin and some chopped strand matt on the books.

When that snapped three years later i got a thruster off the rack from Aware Knees..........

anyway I dont think any of my early boards survived - rode em all into the ground till about 86 when a bunch of mates chipped in to get me one from Bruce for my 21st, they were all sick of me borrowing and trashing their boards.

Kev · Post by **Kev** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 3:12 pm

Mike DiSciascio - Strapper

still making boards and that includes Kneeboards
(he still rides a twin I think)
perhaps not as early as the 70's but early 80's I think

hart · Post by **hart** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 11:22 pm

waka wrote:Steve ' Bucky' Wilson use to rip

Steve BLACKEY Wilson still does!

He is my best mate's brother

Terry Fitz called his label DARK HORSE DESIGNS for obvoius reasons

if you know blackey

All good, huh

But what has this got to do with kneeboard shaping in the 70-80s

Stevie was a standup ripper that didn't shape

hart

Unless I got the wrong guy, huh

waka · Post by **waka** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 12:07 am

you got the wrong guy Brucey

but i know who you are talking about... I think Blackie was living down here at one stage with Bert and Mick at Ulladulla....good to hear that you have a 'best mate' though

Bucky was ..is a kneeboarder that works, or did work for Telstra!

Johnboy Walton · Post by **Johnboy Walton** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 4:45 am

Blackey did shape, but to quote someone who I can't remember, 'probably shouldn't have'. He was shaping under his own label called Impact out of Ulladulla. A ripper he was - back in the day when making the top 16 was your ticket - he was imfamous for making it into the top 16 in his first year, then out of it the next due to.......... .

What does this have to do with kneeboarding? One of the best tips I got to keep my knee surfing sharp was passed onto me while surfing 6ft onshore Ulla bombie with Albert, Parkesy and Blackey...... sorry, but not telling what is was.

There was a guy shaping kneeboards out of Sussex Inlet way back, don't remember his name though.

Also, Bruce Heggie of Ulladulla Surfboard Co made a few kneeboards in the late 70's/early 80's - I had one i bought for a fiddy - a twin fin swallow tail with 'dolphin fins' (can't think of a better description - have one lying around somewhere) - anyway, as a sharp minded 16yr old i thought it would look cool on fire........

Tony Wales · Post by **Tony Wales** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:17 am

A pretty nice looking Albert Whiteman board has just gone up on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HOT-BUTTERED-KNE ... dZViewItem

albert · Post by **albert** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:15 pm

Tony Wales wrote:A pretty nice looking Albert Whiteman board has just gone up on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HOT-BUTTERED-KNE ... dZViewItem

Yeah Tony, good find.

I got myself one just like this one (in slightly better condition) but four fin for about $130 less than a year ago. Its off topic, but I know that lately there have been quite a few very overpriced boards going around on Ebay, IMHO this is one of them. A Barry Bennett single fin in excellent condition was passed in last night too.

analbirth · Post by **analbirth** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:55 pm

This is such a great topic, i've just read all of the posts & there seems to be at least one guy missing, fairly significant shaper as well for us queenslanders anyway. Don Cook / Ocean Forms as far as i know was shaping in the 70's -& 80's & 90's cause i was getting custom shapes as far back as 77 ish up untill the mid 90's. Geoff soupy Sales. Dave Hatch. Bruce Shwartz. Bevan Bache. Paul Herriot. Gary Self. to name a few of us on the goldy we're all riding his boards. And i bet some of these guy's have still got em. All you guys that came up to the D'bah would have surfed against them.
Don's still kicking but not shaping he's doing chinese medicine/ masage etc at Palm Beach Goldy and like his shaping does it well.
Also Bruce Greg Used to Shape KB's out of kirra in the 70's
Another sky shaper Mick Cundith I had some of his twinnies.
Shame Pete Crawford's not still with us AB

MALLEE BULL · Post by **MALLEE BULL** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 1:55 pm

Tony Wales wrote:A pretty nice looking Albert Whiteman board has just gone up on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HOT-BUTTERED-KNE ... dZViewItem

SOLD ON EBAY ABOUT 3 TO 4 WEEKS AGO FOR $91.00
JUST LIKE THE GREENO A WHILE BACK.PEOPLE TRYING TO MAKE FAST MONEY OFF BOARDS

dua anjing · Post by **dua anjing** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:43 pm

MALLEE BULL wrote:
Tony Wales wrote:A pretty nice looking Albert Whiteman board has just gone up on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HOT-BUTTERED-KNE ... dZViewItem
SOLD ON EBAY ABOUT 3 TO 4 WEEKS AGO FOR $91.00
JUST LIKE THE GREENO A WHILE BACK.PEOPLE TRYING TO MAKE FAST MONEY OFF BOARDS

Passed In without a single bid, maybe a few people recognised it and the thought the price hike a bit steep.

Bruzer · Post by **Bruzer** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:04 pm

I recall seeing some really nice Paul Gravelle twinnies ridden by Peter Hosking at J-Bay in 1980, plus I think Peter also had a Michael Cundith kneeboard that flew, too. The Gravelles were an eye-opener compared to the boards I'd seen to date, as well as what I brought on that trip, a classic 5'6" fish with somewhat keelish fins, and a 5'6" wider single-fin shaped by Brett Cooper [BTW -- BC still makes great boards, mostly longboards and 7'+ tris, but his red wines from the Paso Robles, CA area get 100% better every year] that was better suited to J-Bay and Bruce's Beauties than the twinnie.

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Late 70's/Early 80's Shapers

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Late 70s/early 80s shapers