By
Kristin McCrea
Some time ago we received an e-mail
from
Kristin McCrea. The fact that she
does woodworking for living and that she even converted an
old barn into a house in which she lives now made me curious.
Besides woodworking, she is very handy with computers, having
no problems with dismantling them in order to install a new
card, but having problems making them work afterwards! In
any case, she is an extraordinary person and this is her story
about building a house and making birdfeeders:
As for the house, oh what
an adventure! We first dismantled a barn and moved it five
miles. The skeleton was reused for the main section of the
house, other pieces were incorporated into the new kitchen
wing. I ended up with a 2,700 sq. ft. structure. My goal
was a space that was not extremely barnlike but used the
expanse of space in a contemporary way.
Volume, light and shadow played a role. I tried not to waste
space on hallways and to give a flow to the living space.
The exterior was incorporated by the use of extensive glazing
and a 1,500 sq. ft. tiered deck leading to a small pond.
Lighting of both the interior and exterior was taken into
account to open up the space.
This was a hands on project. I not only designed the house
but built and installed many things from roof trusses to
the cabinets in the kitchen and baths. I had a partner in
this project, Elva Reid, who not only helped paying the
bills but also got the 2,700 sq. ft. of 8" pine flooring
laid on the diagonal done while I was busy with other details.
It was an act of either love or insanity. We built during
the wettest season on record. After clearing an acre or
more of cedar, we fought with hydro to have the lines laid
underground, forcing us to take a very hand powered approach
to the early stages of building. Things did get better and
the first large power tool we bought was a radial arm saw,
about the time we were installing the flooring. I always
wanted to write Black & Decker and tell them what a
little circa 1972 orange skill saw could do.
Our building inspector wrote us a note on the final permit
to occupy that this was the best built home he had ever
inspected. Mind you, he came for coffee each week and I
was able to pick his brains, to insure we were building
over code. He was even there one day during a torrential
rain and could see first hand how the drainage grading worked.
It was during this year and a half that I began to build
the birdfeeders I do today. Sundays were our day off but
we still went to the sight to organize for the next week.
I began to turn the construction scraps into birdfeeders.
For some time the picture of 
a miniature mill was evolving in my head. One day I heard
of a competition. I entered it and my model won first prize.
In the interim I was approached to replicate St. Marks church
in Port Hope, Ontario, one of the oldest buildings in this
very historic town. The church's architectural board purchased
it and auctioned it at a fund-raiser. To give you an idea
of scale, each of these pieces is over 2' long". 
That was 10 years ago, my arm still suffers from tennis
elbow. I now have a full shop of tools and use each one.
I have learned that each does a job easier and most importantly
safer, especially with the small pieces needed for my structures.
As small as they are I still start with 16' boards. For
cross cutting I depend on a well set up radial arm saw.
My 3 HP table saw with an excalibure fence and hold downs
then rips the widths I need. A band saw has been an important
and safe addition to my shop used primarily as a small resawing
machine. My belt sander and a scroll saw complete the list
of my larger tools. I use my 6 or so other sanders on demand,
hand and power chisels are always in use for the doors and
windows. I plane with a 12" board planer, a small electric
and most often a very small Stanley hand planer. Throw in
a few drills and a few weeks and any one can come up with
this type of thing.
Chatelaine Gardens magazine has kept me busy this spring.
They wanted 2 pieces, 1 for display and the other for TV
promotion of the magazine. Each of my pieces is unique,
some may be similar but never the same. That is why they
are signed folk art rather than mass produced.
