John Cherry " The Master "

Just received a note from John Cherry about what he has been up to lately.
" Hi Grant,
It’s always a treat to see your name pop up in my in box. It always means something cool or creative.God, how I wish I could join you all down there for this one. I just sent (3) vertical display racks to Brookvale. NSW for some of John Atwills special boards. I wish I could have shipped myself with them."

" I have been delightfully (usually) busy for the last 4-5 months. One of the projects was for myself, an 8-0, 70’s style, lightening bolt-inspired, single-fin gun out of solid agave cactus with Peruvian walnut stringers. The fin is koa, maple and Macassar ebony. I glassed it double 6oz cloth on both sides. It still only weighs about 14 lbs "

" I had a good stash of agave that I had collected or harvested over the previous 1-1/2 years. I spent a long time trying to decide what kind of board would be appropriate for my special stash of wood. The 70’s pipeline gun denotes a special period and place in surfing history and of my own surfing history…..so I went with it."




" I truly wish I could join you guys and gals and see some of the incredibly cool stuff that I know will be on display at your 3rd Annual Wooden Surfboard Day. I send my warmest regards to everyone."
Sincerely, John Cherry
John truely is one of the masters of wooden boards that we have out there to be inspired by. Lets hope one day we get to see the big fella down under. Thanks for your continued support John.

John Cherry Woodcraft ~ Cherry Surfboards
www.johncherrywoodcraft.com
www.woodenshipsbyjcherry.blogspot.com

John Cherry , master craftsman.

These beautiful wooden fins are for a 11ft x 23 1/2" chambered Balsa and Redwood glider John is building.

All clamped up and ready to finish shape. A big job ahead of him, but what a great looking board.

Chambering all the pieces is a delicate operation at any time.



I showed John my wooden version of the Alley Slider and how it turned out. He then sent me these shots of one of his favorite boards " I didn’t want to beat up my Phil Edwards model, but I still wanted to ride it. So I built and shaped this chambered balsa for myself (with Phil’s blessing)."
It is also interesting to see how two boards with the same dimentions feeel when built from different materials .

John Cherry, forever building beautiful things in wood.

Handcrafted works of art.

Curly Koa wood D fin getting the finishing touches
John with great friend and shaper Terry Martin with chambered 9ft 6" longboard and a 9ft Bob Simmons reproduction , both in balsa wood. John and Terry built and shaped the boards the beautiful inlay work was done by Ric Allison a noted Pennsylvania artist and professor of furniture design at the University of Pennssylvania.

John Cherry builds another great board

John Cherry has just finished another great board. " I’ve done a lot of stunning wooden boards over the last several years. None quite compare to this one. I’m not even going to try to put its in-person visual impression into words. But the board is absaolutely PERFECT! It will be dropping jaws for decades to come.

I’m so elated to know I will have your special board as the center piece for my space at The Sacred Craft exhibition."

So guys if you are able to make it to the Sacred Craft Expo then check it out.

John Cherry and Terry Martin team up again

Here are some shots sent to me by master wood craftsmen John Cherry and shaper Terry Martin.It's a 9ft Simmons in chambered Balsa. A labour of love where the guys have turned a 60lb close to shape blank into a 24lb board after chambering. As you can see there is a lot of work involved in this process , but the result is an amazing tribute to the legacy that is Bob Simmons. Thanks for sharing guys. Check out John at his sites.

www.johncherrywoodcraft.com www.woodenshipsbyjcherry.blogspot.com

All great wooden boards need a great fin

When you build a great looking wooden board , don't forget to finish it off with a great wooden fin. There are not many better at it than John Cherry. Beautiful woods and a great craftsmanship to create this art.

No excuses now with this sort of inspiration. www.johncherrywoodcraft.com

John Cherry and Terry Martin building a 10ft stringerless chambered balsa single fin nose rider.

John Cherry doing the chambering






Terry Martin, just eyeballing his handy work
Racked and ready to glass at Moonlight Glassing. 6oz both sides

" These photo’s start with the square  (heavy) lumber.  They show the processes of cutting and gluing rocker into the lumber, cutting out the rocker templates, the first glue up, with every other section spot-glued to take apart after the first shaping by Terry Martin, marking and cutting chambers and drilling out the rail sections on the drill press, the second and final glue-up after chambering and Terry doing the finish shaping.  Wood source: Tropical Exotic Hardwoods of Latin America "
 
"Templated blank before 1st shaping; 40lbs.  Blank after 1st shaping 33lbs.  
Finished board, after chambering, before glassing; just under 17lbs. (Yes, really)"

Owner:  Francesco DiTommaso, Bari Italy.

Thanks to John and Terry for sharing these shots with us and showing the whole process. If you want a board like this these guys can build you one. Or maybe this has inspired you to have a go yourself.