Woodshop has extended into a business for three Cleveland juniors. Coleman Neher, Jeremy Johnson, and Noah Clark have founded Heartwood Cutting Boards, a business dedicated to transforming their hobby into a profession.

Since summer of 2018, Neher, Johnson, and Clark have spent their weekends in Neher’s garage, where they hand craft cutting boards and platters for family, friends, and the community.  

“We all like working in the woodshop so much, and we decided it would be cool to make our own shop in Coleman’s garage, and then we figured we’ll make a profit out of it, and so that made it even better,” said Johnson. “Making cutting boards is just a way to enjoy our passion of making woodworking panels and make some money off of it.”

Their interest in woodworking sparked from middle and high school woodshop classes. The more intricate their projects became, the more they realized that their innovation in shop class did not have to be limited to just one period every other day.

“Coleman was the one who really got it dialed in,” Clark explained. “He was like, ‘Hey guys we should do this, it’s a good opportunity.’ So he got his garage fixed up, and then we all pitched in some money and just started making cutting boards.”

“I’m really excited that they took the initiative,” Cleveland woodshop teacher Brian Barnes explained. “They’ve taken the general concepts of joining boards together. I’ve taught some really historic or basic ideas and concepts, and they’ve just kind of took off with it, and they’ve applied their own creative element to it to make all those kind of fancy edges and inlays and stuff.”

A cutting board from Heartwood can take one to four hours to produce, but the outcome makes all of the time and effort worth it. Upwards of 30 cutting boards have been sold to members within the community.

As of recently, Heartwood has expanded their business to outside of just friends and family. They produced 36 cutting boards and 10 sets of coasters for the Cedarwood Waldorf School Winter Faire on Dec. 8, where they had their own booth to display and sell their work. Neher explained how they ended the day with five boards and no coasters, making just over $1800 dollars in revenue.

For Neher, Johnson, and Clark, Heartwood has been a tremendous success, and they do not plan on halting business anytime soon. Students and teachers at Cleveland are welcome to order a board by following their instagram @heartwoodcuttingboards and messaging them through there, or by emailing them at [email protected].

All three have thought about a possible future in woodworking, but Neher explained how “even if it’s not like a career, it’s a fun side hobby, and we’re all doing what we enjoy.”