For some people, a stump is just a stump. But to Will Korth, a stump is nature waiting to be turned into furniture.

A partner in Korth & Shannahan, Inc contractor services out of Westchester County, Mr Korth has found a creative outlet in his Newtown Tree Craft business, making coffee tables, end tables, and fire stools from recovered wood.

“The rule is,” said Mr Korth, “I only use wood that I find.” He has sourced wood for his products from storm debris, his own property, and the landfill. Tall, short, wide, and narrow sections of trees fill half of his garage workshop in Newtown. Broad cuts from maple trees are piled next to forked pieces from birch trees. Rust colored pieces of cedar lean against chunks from ash trees.

“People who know me, tell me when they have a tree down that has a cool piece of wood,” he said, pointing out an end table constructed from a willow tree that fell on a Tory Lane property.

Always handy with tools, he started crafting furniture from wood when helping his son, Henry, who was working on a carpentry badge for Boy Scouts.

“That was about four or five years ago,” Mr Korth said. “We made a rustic stool together.”

Before he knew it, he was making more and more pieces — mainly fire stools, to put in front of the fireplace or next to a campfire — and giving them away.

“People loved them,” he said, and since he loved the creative experience, he has continued to craft them.

Each piece of furniture begins with the selection of the wood. “You have to have some gnarly pieces,” he said, which work well for legs and gives each table or stool character. Working with the shape of the wood is important, Mr Korth said.

“I look for the doubles and the triples,” he said, referring to cuts that come from trees that have sprouted multiple trunks. The more irregular the shape, the more exciting he finds it to work with the wood. Firewood stock makes excellent stool legs, he has found.

All of the furniture created by Newtown Tree Craft is then planed, and sanded many times. Each piece is stained and coated with polyurethane, making it appropriate for either indoor or outdoor use.  Legs are pegged and glued, never nailed or screwed onto a piece, he said. Depending on his schedule, a piece of furniture can take Mr Korth anywhere from two days to two weeks to complete.

On Wednesday, October 1, he was adding the finishing touches to pieces he plans to exhibit at the Warren Fall Festival, October 11 and 12. It is the first time he will have a public showing of his furniture, he said.

“I’m always inspired by the wood,” Mr Korth said. “I just do it, though, because it’s fun.”

The Warren Fall Festival takes place at 255 Brick School House Road in Warren, from 10 am to 5 pm, Saturday and Sunday, October 11 and 12.

To find out more about “Furniture From The Woods,” as he tags his business, email Mr Korth at newtowntreecraft@gmail.com.