Chapter 1

Wizard Frames & Roofing Trusses

James & Frank Merlin

The sign above the entrance said it all. My father James and his Brother Frank ran a frame and truss manufacturing business. My father started out building houses with Frank as his apprentice; the usual practice was to order the rough sawn timber and then cut it to size on the job site. Father realised this was a time wasting procedure so set about procuring a disused aircraft hanger and erecting it on the family farm.

With the hanger, now a workshop, he purchased machinery to speed up the operation. Rough sawn hardwood went through a planer thicknesser and dressed all sides, this gave them a uniform and easy to handle lengths of timber. Instead of cutting individual lengths they now were cutting batches of the same size, with careful planning, they cut all the timbers for a house. A series of jigs to aid assembly with a portable gang nail press and air operated nail guns they realised a huge saving in time, plus the added advantage of being out of the weather.

Very soon other builders noticed the ease which the Merlins were erecting their houses. Inquiries to manufacture frames and trusses followed. As the workload increased they found themselves focusing on the framing and the building side of the business declined until framing became a full time operation. Wizard Frames and Roofing Trusses was born.

I grew up with sawdust in my boots and splinters in my fingers, from an early age I was in the workshop every spare moment. I started by pushing a broom and picking up scrap pieces of lumber. Nothing was wasted, the scrap lumber was sold for firewood and the shavings and sawdust to farmers to put down in muddy areas, garden suppliers were also buying it as well.

As I grew older and more responsible, they trained me to use the planer and the docking saw. Safety was always pounded into my head, every docking order had a safety heading on the slip and woe betide me if I tried to take short cuts. After I finished my schooling I was indentured as an apprentice, by this time I was able to carry out all facets of the business. Strong emphasis was placed on the office side of things, in particular reading and interpreting blueprints.

With the post war boom, housing was in great demand, the influx of European migrants into Australia meant we were supplying more and more house lots. This meant more employees, quite a few were non English speaking migrants, a hammer is still a hammer even if it's from a different lingo and soon they were working as good as anyone else.

With a surname of Merlin I soon gained the nickname of 'Wizard' which soon broke down to 'Wiz', I wondered why the girls all giggled when they heard it, until one informed me that when girls took a leak the called it going for a 'whiz'. Strange creatures girls.

As time marched on, radiata pine replaced the good old Aussie hardwood, this came in fully dressed and speeded up our production even more; the builders appreciated as well because of the weight and uniformity. Our scrap ends were now run through a finger jointer giving an end product equal to, if not stronger than the original.

I had a mate, Freddie Smith, he worked as an apprentice motor mechanic with the local passenger bus service. Our great plan was to buy an old bus and do it up as a caravan and go around Australia. Man plans and God decides. In the last year of my apprenticeship the bus company Freddie worked for, decided to upgrade its fleet of buses. Freddie advised me that an old Bedford was in fairly good nick, the engine had been recently overhauled, with a bit of skulduggery he arranged to scavenge a good set of tyres from the other busses that were up for sale. Uncle Frank was a good friend of the owner and worked out a good deal, he and Dad then gave the bus to me as a present for completing my apprenticeship. Freddie's parents were adamant, their son was NOT going to be bumming around our great land until had finished his apprenticeship, which sadly for him was a fair way off.

With the bus in the yard, I proceeded to strip the interior. Mr Price, an old employee who was about to retire, took a great interest in my project.

"Tony, as you know I'm getting close to retirement, My dear wife runs a pretty tight ship and is very set in her ways. When I'm home full time I will be under her feet, this won't make her a very happy person. Why am I telling you this? I need a project, would you allow me to help you fit out your bus, I don't want payment, just the opportunity to ease into retirement."

"Mr Price, I would be honoured to have you help me, you have the old time skills that I never had the time to learn, this would be a tremendous help."

And so project motor home was launched. Mr Price true to his word turned an old bus into a very comfortable home. The day arrived and Freddie and me took her for a shakedown cruise, a weekend over at the beach ... perfection. Freddie suggested we talk to an old school mate who had taken an apprenticeship as a sign writer to jazz up the exterior. Ray Clough took to the project with great enthusiasm.