Mister Jalopy

Ten years ago, Mister Jalopy decided to be handy. "People are not born craftsmen; they just have the courage to screw things up," he says. "Embrace your inner amateur and try everything. There will always be an expert to take your money and fix the mistakes." Mister Jalopy is a mediocre welder, a fair shade-tree mechanic, and a clumsy designer, and has never touched a piece of wood that he hasn't ruined. However, he still gets a lot done at hooptyrides.com.

Author of these Magazine Articles

Blast from the Future!
If Snap-On doesn't want to sell to amateurs, somebody else will. Introducing Deen Tools: Japanese quality made in Taiwan.
In Blast from the Past from MAKE: 13: Magic page 188

Boombox as Platform
This cheap garage-sale stalwart is really an electronics lan in a box.
In DIY: Music from MAKE: 12: Upload page 129

Professional Locksmithing and Keying
Professional locksmithing and keying by mail in 1971, from the Locksmithing Institute.
In Blast from the Past from MAKE: 12: Upload page 174

Tin Can Tiles
Tile anything from a small roof to an outdoor bar with some simple can construction.
In DIY: Tile It from CRAFT: 05: Paper page 108

Mister Jalopy's Urban Guerrilla Movie House
Your own DIY drive-in.
From MAKE: 11: Alt Vehicles page 48

Blast from the Past
Mr. Jalopy's adaptation of the Orange Crate Racer project from the 1949 classic Make It and Ride It.
In Blast from the Past from MAKE: 11: Alt Vehicles page 172

P.O.K.E.R. Night Download PDF.Download Sample PDF (excerpt)
Trick your friends into building a vortex tube.
From MAKE: 09: Fringe page 34

Old-School Hand Tool Hacks
What I learned from the 1963 Bureau of Naval Personnel Training Course.
In Blast from the Past from MAKE: 09: Fringe page 180

Blast from the Past: The 1948 Union Hardware Catalog
Glimpse how modern civilization was built without laser levels or pneumatic nail guns.
In Blast from the Past from MAKE: 08: Toys and Games page 180

Jet Age Garden
With $100 and a spare weekend, you can build a corner garden that will impress your granny and offend local Japanese garden enthusiasts.
From CRAFT: 01: Craft Premiere page 68

Lanterns-a-Go-Go
Convert electric Chinatown party lights to battery power.
In DIY: Light It from CRAFT: 01: Craft Premiere page 147

Workshops, Big and Very Small
Build a stowable mini workshop for modest tasks like lamp rewiring and scissor sharpening and soon you'll be building your dreams.
In Blast from the Past from MAKE: 07: Backyard Biology page 178

Hot Air
Build a do-everything manifold to control, dry, route, and use compressed air.
In The Quick and Dirty from MAKE: 06: Robots page 72

Blast from the Past: The Boy Mechanical
A look back at the glory years of engineering for common folk.
In Blast from the Past from MAKE: 06: Robots page 184

The Quick and Dirty: Holes, Rivets, and Bent Metal
Learn three essential shop fabrication techniques and reward yourself by making a wi-fi signal deflector.
In The Quick and Dirty from MAKE: 05: Science, Weather, and Outdoors page 110

The World's Biggest MP3 Player
Filling a retro hi-fi with an MP3 ripping and playback system.
In Maker from MAKE: 04: Music and Kits for the Holidays page 54

Kits For The Holidays
Our guide to the coolest kits to make and give.
From MAKE: 04: Music and Kits for the Holidays page 64

Owner's Manifesto
If you can't open it, you don't own it: a Maker's Bill of Rights to accessible, extensive, and repairable hardware.
From MAKE: 04: Music and Kits for the Holidays page 154

Primer: Welding
If you need metal stuck together, there is no quicker path than buying a portable 110-volt wire-feed welder. Mr. Jalopy's introduction to welding will help you understand the process and show how you can be a welder by the end of the weekend--and end up with a couple of jigs for the effort.
In Primer from MAKE: 03: Cars and Halloween page 158

Toolbox
The best tools, software, gadgets, books, magazines, and websites.
In Toolbox from MAKE: 03: Cars and Halloween page 172

Toolbox
The best tools, software, gadgets, books, magazines, and websites.
In Toolbox from MAKE: 01: Make Premiere page 174

Photographer for these Magazine Articles

Boombox as Platform
This cheap garage-sale stalwart is really an electronics lan in a box.
In DIY: Music from MAKE: 12: Upload page 129

Tin Can Tiles
Tile anything from a small roof to an outdoor bar with some simple can construction.
In DIY: Tile It from CRAFT: 05: Paper page 108


MAKE: Online Extras

Unsafe At Any Amperage?
Behind the scenes of our high-voltage dilemma: whether to publish a dangerously cool project in MAKE magazine's "Fringe" issue.
by Tom Anderson, Gareth Branwyn, Shawn Connally, Dale Dougherty, Mark Frauenfelder, Joe Grand, Saul Griffith, William Gurstelle, Bunnie Huang, Tom Igoe, Mister Jalopy, Steve Lodefink, John MacNeill, David Pescovitz, Charles Platt, Paul Spinrad, Phillip Torrone; March 16, 2007

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