From fibreglass boats to composite swimming pools

Geelong-based fibreglass boat manufacturer Edencraft is moving into composite swimming pools, using epoxy resins from ATL’s range.

Since 2022, Josie Maher-Eastman has been the general manager of her family’s businesses: Edencraft International, Edencraft Marine and Edencraft Creative.

Edencraft was established 35 years ago, originally specialising in racing power boats and offshore fishing vessels, with a strong following for its renowned 233 Formula hull.

Maher-Eastman’s parents bought the business in 2016 and immediately replaced timber with composites. Since then, they invested in a CMS Poseidon, one of the largest high-speed 5-axis CNC milling machines in Australia.

“While I was at uni, they asked me to take a look at the bookwork and I stayed,” she says. “As the businesses have grown and evolved, so has my job.”

In eight years, they have gone from two people to 45 employees. Expanding into B2B manufacturing with Edencraft Creative, initially to supply its boat building business, Josie contacted ATL Composites to explore their products in the Technirez and Duratec ranges.

“For the plugs, we sampled products from three different Australian suppliers,” she says. “ATL’s product machined to the nicest finish, and they were able to make a custom blue colour for us. We love the blue – it looks great in photos and suits our branding.”

Technirez R2576 is a high performance tooling paste with excellent machining properties. The epoxy shell is CNC machined to produce a durable tooling surface which will hold vacuum and stand up to numerous pulls.

R2576 exhibits low exotherm and shrinkage when applied at thicknesses up to 40mm and is machinable after one day.

Duratec 707-061 EZ Sanding Primer is also used in the plug preparation at Eden Creative.

A favourite across the composites industry, the primer is an exceptionally easy-to-sand product that can be sprayed to a high build to eliminate defects and then sanded and polished to a smooth, porosity-free surface.

Since November 2023, Edencraft Creative has secured high profile clients in the pool industry, working with Summertime Pools and Australia’s largest boat builder, Riviera Motor Yachts.

“We are ambitious,” she says. “We aim to be number one in large format composite plug making. As boat builders ourselves, we are experts, diverse industries. Our next step is export. The Australian dollar makes us very cost competitive with markets like the US.”

Maher-Eastman says they are looking forward to undertaking more plug work for different industries.

“Pools, boats for us and others, caravans and motor homes, trains and trucks, rockets, infrastructure and architecture, and eventually government and defence contracts. There’s a world of opportunity out there.”

IMAGE: Summertime Pool plug milling (Supplied)