Editor’s Note: In this new series, Franklin Journal Staff Writer Kay Neufeld will learn from local artisans, artists, creatives etc. on how to make some of their signature creations.

FARMINGTON — On a Friday afternoon in late September, I was invited by woodworker John Nichols and his apprentice, Emma Schurink, to join them in their shop, learn some tricks of the trade, and make myself some cutting boards from start to finish.

Nichols has been working with wood for as long as he can remember, starting with his first job cleaning up a job site with his dad in Cape Elizabeth. Nichols said he’s been in carpentry and woodworking ever since.

Ten years back, Nichols began John’s Chip Off the Old Block, where he creates everything from cutting boards and spoons, tables and cabinetry to cribbage boards. Nichols is also known for his resin art, a medium he created by mixing resin and wood chips together.

At the time he started the woodworking shop, Nichols was still working as a carpenter. When it became clear that he had to choose one avenue, Nichols chose his passion and began running the shop full time.

Schurink began working with Nichols a year ago, when she “serendipitously” walked into Vera’s Iron and Vine (where Nichols used to be a part-owner) and suggested he take her on as an apprentice.

Nichols calls Schurink his first “blank slate apprentice,” teaching her everything she now knows and excels at in woodworking.

Back to that Friday afternoon, I began the day by watching Nichols and Schurink finish up some work. Nichols was using his table saw to cut the wood I’d be using for my cutting board.

Truthfully, I grimaced through that part, looking away as Nichols’ fingers got so close to the saw I surely thought they’d get chopped off. Nichols of course knows his limits. He appears to have a symbiotic relationship with his tools.

Nevertheless, given how long Nichols has been doing this, he’s seen a few accidents. Those he mentioned sounded unpleasant enough (a saw-sliced thumb, perhaps) that they instilled in me the fear of God and I consequently approached the machines with immense caution.

After “ripping up” larger pieces of wood for me to compile my cutting board, I got to do what Schurink describes as the “creative part” of the process. This involves choosing from the many different kinds of wood in Nichols’ shop and arranging them to my heart’s desire.

Schurink is very intentional about fleshing out her vision for the board.

“I’m looking at each piece (of wood) and really choosing,” she said.

Meanwhile, Nichols just goes for it — picking and arranging at random. With such beautiful wood and the care put into the process, it seems pretty hard for these boards to come out looking bad.

Though Nichols and Schurink have different methods, they bond over admiring the wood and “geeking out over the grain.”

When I said I wanted to get it “right,” Nichols affirmed “there is no wrong way.”

Much of the wood Nichols uses is locally sourced in Maine, including maple, cherry and ash.

With my unfortunate penchant for expensive taste, I ended up picking some of the more pricey and lusher woods, bloodwood and purpleheart. Both are sourced from the equator region. Their colors are rich and and vibrant — more colorful than I expected wood to look like naturally.

After bringing my creative vision to fruition, the technical work began.

First, we glued and clamped the wood to dry over night.

I returned the following week to finish up my work. We began the new day with using the planer to flatten and even out the board. This part of the process takes a bit more muscle and caution, the first moment of the day I was concerned about losing a finger.

The board’s final form was starting to take shape. The planer revealed the grain of the wood, what really makes it shine.

All throughout the process, Nichols and Schurink would correct my technique, showing me what it takes for them to be most efficient and successful. With an anxious nature and the concern that I would mess up along the way, this was much appreciated.

Next, came the step I feared the most: using the chop saw. I am a particularly clumsy human being. However, Nichols assured me “if you’re cautious, you’re not going to get hurt.”

I wasn’t excellent at the chop saw and Nichols had to swoop in a few times to correct my work. Nevertheless, I write this with all 10 fingers accounted for.

Nichols next taught me how to route the edges, or round them out so they aren’t blunt. That process felt the most risky to me because it was the closest my hands got to the tools.

It was not lost on me that it took me triple the time to route a board that it took Nichols. Of course it would. But my perfectionist ego still came out a bit bruised and I tried to speed up with each board I routed.

After routing the board, we neared the end of the job. Schurink taught me how to sand, a bit more time consuming and back-aching than the other steps. However, sanding was one of my favorite steps.

This step was quite meditative. I found myself repeatedly zoning out, snapping back to reality and remembering I was handling a tool.

“What do you think about while you work?” I asked. Both agreed that they zone out as well, thinking about what’s on their to-do list or coming up with new ideas. Though with their muscle memory it’s fairly less risky to get lost in thought.

Nichols and Schurink, at this point good friends, also said they will stop what they’re working on to share a random thought here and there.

With a coat of oil and a quick buff, I was done. It was incredibly satisfying to see my finished product and take my creations home.

What I found most impressive by John’s Chip Off the Old Block was the ingenuity flowing in the shop. No wood goes to waste, instead turned into new and unique products.

Schurink has been creating earrings from scraps in the shop. Nichols creates his resin art. Other wood gets burned, recycled or used at local farms.

Some pieces of wood are kept around to be used in future work when the right idea or moment comes along. Nichols has been holding on to one distinctly beautiful block of maple for five years.

“We’re not really saving anything, you just don’t throw anything away,” Nichols said.

I left my time with Nichols and Schurink especially proud for a variety of reasons: that I could make something so beautiful with no experience, nary a splinter, and accident free.

Here’s to hoping my safety record stays that way the next time.

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