RSSMister 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
The Maker's Bill of Rights
Revisiting Mister Jalopy’s Owner’s Manifesto on MAKE’s 5th anniversary.
From MAKE:
20: For Kids of All Ages page 31
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 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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