My furniture in glass and timber

My work with kiln-formed glass combined with unique Tasmanian Special Timbersby George Harris July, 2014I recently completed 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 these 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 features 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