Laminex & Formica

Techniques learned in the auto industry set the world on the road to surface paradise, writes Chris Pearson.

- Chris Pearson

For more than a decade, Melbourne entrepreneur Bob Sykes had been producing fabric- and resin-coated cogs for Ford and General Motors to help their engines run smoothly. But by 1946, auto technology was overtaking him and he needed a new ‘resin’ d’être.

In the US, electrical engineers Daniel O’Conor and Herbert Faber had been using a material similar to his fabricand resin-coating, called Formica, for insulation products. They had also discovered a much more lucrative application: decorative laminates. Sykes set sail for the US to investigate.

On his return, Sykes shifted the focus of his company, Laminex, from auto parts to decorative laminates – and in doing so, turned the Australian furniture and building industries on their heads.