R. J. De Cristoforo
Personal Information
Description
Besides being a prolific and acclaimed writer of how-to books, Romeo J. "Cris" De Cristoforo, was a teacher all his life. Considered to be the foremost authority as a do-it-yourself craftsman, the Manhattan native published 42 books on handicraft. His three best-known books are, "The Popular Science Complete Book of Power Tools," "The Complete Book of Wood Joinery," and "House Building: A Do It Yourself Guide." Well acquainted with a mortise and tenon, Mr. De Cristoforo (he often published under "Richard" instead of Romeo) provided numerous articles on building houses to American Home and Better Homes and Garden magazines. Bert Murphy, at Mechanics Illustrated, dubbed De Cristoforo, the "dean of home workshop writers." Mr. De Cristoforo also published numerous fictional articles and selected poetry. His poem, "Dreams," was published in a 1939 Anthology of Verse. He encouraged numerous aspiring writers and taught several in his home, but always advised them to "never quit your day job, if you're going to free-lance."
Books
The Ultimate Woodshop Jig Book
This book includes jigs for the table saw, drill press, radial arm saw, lathe, the band saw, disc sander, belt sander and router. This De Cristoforo offering is from 1999 (his last) and includes a collection of 27 of his older projects. From one of the most respected instructional authors in woodworking, this step-by-step guide shows how to build and utilize unique jigs from a past master.
De Cristoforo's complete book of power tools, both stationary and portable
How to Build Your Own Furniture
Your home workshopper's imagination plus the DeCristoforo Component System in HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN FURNITURE and presto: there's no end to the functional and pleasing pieces that can be produced with basic wood-working tools. Reduce the design to its basic components and sub-assemblies-slabs, rails and legs-and make an endless variety of tables, chairs, desks, chests, cabinets or bed frames! Also contains complete information on selection and use of woods, composition boards, plywoods, nails, screws, special fasteners and other hardware, plus techniques of gluing and clamping. Literally enough professional know-how in this book for a home workshop buff to set up a highly-profitable custom furniture business. It's all in what you know and this book tells it all!
Fun with a Saw
If you own the radial arm saw manufactured by Magna or Yuba called the Sawsmith, you absolutely need this book. Made between 1958 and about 1965, the Sawsmith had a variety of unique features, which included a pulley based speed changing mechanism. This book tells all about this unique tool and gives some ideas of the different tasks that may be accomplished with it. Along with the Yahoo Sawsmith group and some forum entries at Shopsmith.org, this book is an important asset to Sawsmith owners.