Picking through a pile of apple-tree limbs – looking for the wood that would connect the legs of a $3,000 custom-made modern end tables – the woodworker tossed away the straight branches.
John aimed to be crooked.
The furniture-maker threw out every impulse of his 25 years of woodworking experience and his usual quest to find unspoiled grains and elegant, straight lines in wood.
![](https://palinterest.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/End-Tables.jpg)
He plucked several apple limbs and stumps from a trash pile in a nearby orchard and went to work in his basement shop.
Mod tempo’s exacting work given the cost of the pieces – $1,200 for a rocking chair, $3,200 for a desk, $6,200 for a TV stands.
John was visiting a client in Cleveland when he was shown a rustic-looking bench. The client asked Levitt if he knew someone who might make something similar.
In his shop at home in Turner, he photographed the stumps and limbs, double-checking with the buyer, and went to work when the OK came back.
Most everything was done by hand.
He sliced away the bark with a draw knife – a two-hand tool that looks like a cross-cut saw – and did the detailed stripping and sculpting with a spoke shave and chisel.
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