My work with kiln-formed glass combined with unique Tasmanian Special Timbers

by George Harris

February, 2014

I am currently nearing completion of a dining table that features legs and frame in strongly
figured Eucalyptus Delegatensis, which has a rich crimson tinge to it, with the top
comprising two planks of wane-edged Huon Pine and a piece of 10 mm kiln-formed glass
fitted flush into a rebate shaped to match the inward facing wane edges.

Huon Pine only grows in the wetter parts of western and southern Tasmania. It is very slow
growing, and has a distinctive aroma and rich oil that is a natural preservative. As Huon
does not rot, no live trees are felled, and 500 cubic meters is maximum annual supply, all
from salvage. The oldest living Huon was core-sampled at 3,300 years, and is still growing.

The table dimensions are 2.0 m long by 0.9 m wide by 0.75 m high. It was commissioned
by a private client for a new holiday house on the Tasman Peninsula, southern Tasmania.
Prior to bringing this concept to a dining table I have made three large coffee tables, the
following of which is in three sequentially cut pieces of wane-edge Huon Pine, with legs in
trunk sections of around 250 mm in diameter. This piece was entered in the Tidal Zone
exhibition, which was a component of the 2007 Tens Days on the Island arts festival.

The glass thickness is 8 mm thick in each of the low tables. It is firstly cut to shape by a
commercial glass supplier using a high pressure computer-controlled water-jet cutter from

a template shaped to match the line of a rebate of approximately 15 mm drawn on the

finished surface of the boards. At that stage the glass is flat, but with sharp edges.
It is then taken to a glass studio where it is put into a top-loading kiln that has fine
refractory sand as a casting base. An impression is made in the sand, and brush marks are
made in the sand to give the impression of flowing water. Sand is packed up to the edges
to ensure the correct shape is maintained during the slumping process. The glass is fired in
a programmed heating and cooling schedule, and is ready for opening the next day. The
sharp edges soften, and the glass surface is smooth, but not entirely flat. The underside is
rough to the touch. The overall visual effect is just magic The following table is in large
slabs of Tasmanian Myrtle.

Note legs are hollow, fabricated from boards with mitred edges so the join is virtually
invisible. These are more stable in that they are less likely to crack, and are certainly
lighter! Overall the table is still very heavy. Commissioned by a private client, Sydney.

I live in Hobart, the capital city of

Australias island state of Tasmania. I
have a studio/workshop in a beautiful
rural setting, 24 kilometres south of the
city, to which I commute every day. The
land on which it sits is a small part of a
farm my grandfather established about
one hundred years ago. I spent my first
eight years there, before the farm passed
out of family ownership in 1962. In 1986 I
purchased a small portion of that land,
and in 1992 tendered for the demolition
and removal of a large shed from the rear
of a brewery in Hobart, and relocated it to
that land. It is my slice of heaven