The Maker: Sand Creek Wood Shop

The idea behind Tyler and Theresa Groth’s family business began with an overpriced pizza cutter. They had splurged on one from a well-known brand, so they expected it to last. But it only took a few months for the tool to fall apart. So the Elizabethtown couple decided to start creating their own kitchen products.

After family members got a glimpse of the sleek chef’s knives and chrome-finished bottle openers and asked to buy their own, the Groths launched Sand Creek Wood Shop online in 2016. From behind the lathe, Tyler creates most of the turned items, like the Damascus steel chef’s knives ($145–$250) and heavy-duty pizza cutters ($44–$64). Indy’s Metazoa Brewing Company now fills glasses using Sand Creek’s tap handles.

The custom cutting boards are where Theresa’s creativity shines. She hunts down materials from around Indiana, sometimes when farmers take down barns or clear trees. More exotic woods are gathered in person, too, never online—Theresa needs to examine each grain pattern up close. Even much of the wax she uses to treat the finished pieces is harvested from beehives she raises on a friend’s property.

“I don’t just pick a bunch of boards, slap them together, and call it a cutting board,” Theresa says. “I want each one to be uniquely beautiful.”

BUY IT
Cutting board/serving tray ($40–$180, depending on size and details). Features hickory, birdseye maple, sapele, and purpleheart wood.