Shopsmith Forums

Here is an interesting link Skip posted over on his Yahoo group.

http://www.woodworkinghistory.com/manual_author10.htm

Interesting!

Yes, I knew that RJ lived in Los Altos Hills,
one of the most exclusive towns in Santa
Clara valley.

I grew up in Sunnyvale, a working-class
city. (Last time my family's house went
on the market, over a MILLION Dollars.
Some working-class neighborhood.)
They paid 24 or 27 thousand for that
house. They did NOT get much of the
increase.

steve

The work on R.J DeCristoforo states "(On the left is one of numerous images of R J DeCristoforo in the 1st manual commissioned by Shopsmith."

He was an employee of Magna at the time he wrote that book, and was tasked with writing the book. R.J. DeChristoforo finished PTWFE (10ER) and assumed Assistant Advertising and Promotion Manager Dec 1952 before it was published in 1953. In 1954 his assignments included editing Shopsmith Shavings. In 1955 he updated the book for Shopsmith Mark 5 and separated from Magna some date afterward at a date I am still seeking. I believe that was before YUBA acquired rights to Magna

Everett

Was he still with Magna/Yuba/Magna when he wrote Fun With A Saw for the SawSmith Radial Arm Saw copyright 1961 or Modern Power Tool Woodworking for the Mark VII copyright 1967?

chapmanruss wrote:Was he still with Magna/Yuba/Magna when he wrote Fun With A Saw for the SawSmith Radial Arm Saw copyright 1961 or Modern Power Tool Woodworking for the Mark VII copyright 1967?

I do not know about the SawSmith book, but, the Mark VII(Modern Power Tool Woodworking) was Copyrighted by "Magna American Corporation" in 1967. My copy is the 1974 Printing(interesting date!) and was distributed by Arco Publishing Company.

Anybody got a first(1967) edition(assuming there was one!).

Mine is the 1974 printing also.

My copy of Fun With A Saw is copyright 1961 McGraw-Hill Book Company and goes on the state -
Copyright 1961 by R. J. De Cristoforo. Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission of the publishers, author, and Magna American Corporation. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 61-16928

Interesting Magna American Corporation and 1961 documented together. There is no indication it is a later reprint.

chapmanruss wrote:Was he still with Magna/Yuba/Magna when he wrote Fun With A Saw for the SawSmith Radial Arm Saw copyright 1961 or Modern Power Tool Woodworking for the Mark VII copyright 1967?

I haven’t found an answer, but I believe he left sometime before 1960’s and was writing his own material and maybe contracted in a joint venture as one fellow in California I spoke with suggests.

Russ, I don’t have anything to validate one or the other yet. I am still looking. My research has been Magna / Shopsmith. If we had other missing MagPie newsletters, there might be something documented. I will keep an eye out for that as I keep researching the history

Everett

My copy of Modern Power Tool Woodworking is copyrighted by Magna American Corporation of Raymond, Mississippi, and has a copyright date of 1967. On the title page the words Magna Publications Raymond, Mississippi appears below the author's name, and following the copyright page there is an introduction written by R.J.D. and dated October, 1966. Those are the only dates I can find. The copyright page also gives credit for preparing, printing and binding to Fawcett Publications. The book jacket is orange, with a design that includes some spindle turnings and a couple of stylized Windsor-style chairs.

JPG wrote: Anybody got a first(1967) edition(assuming there was one!).

What is on the spine bottom between the title and a magna logo at the very bottom.

Mine has "ARCO".


I BELIEVE YOU HAVE THE FIRST PRINTING.

JPG wrote:What is on the spine bottom between the title and a magna logo at the very bottom.

Mine has "ARCO".


I BELIEVE YOU HAVE THE FIRST PRINTING.

Nope, no ARCO, just space between the bottom of the title and the Magna logo. Nice to know it is a first edition, but I can't get too excited since a previous owner used a pencil to underline many passages and add little notes on some pages. Oh well, I guess its not a collectible, but still a fun source of good information. One of my projects to be done "someday soon" is to build a little wall cupboard to house the various versions of PTWFE and keep them in the shop for ready reference. They are shelved together in a bookcase in my den right now.