The Jalopy Journal

I know we have a ton of posts on the Garage Journal covering work benches, their construction, and all of the theories behind their design. However, a buddy of mine over at Make Magazine turned me onto a Flikr account that you guys have got to check out. Essentially, a guy in rural Oklahoma (God’s Country… Go Sooners!) is obsessed with work bench design and posted a gallery of just about all of his designs both past and present. It’s well worth checking out if you are getting ready to build some new benches as some of his ideas are pretty damned creative.

Start studying now!

Despite these economic times, garage condos seem to be gaining in popularity. The idea is simple… A developer takes care of the complications – he develops the land, builds the structures, and sets up the infrastructure. The car guy then buys a unit and outfits it as he sees fit. He pays that initial sum and then is responsible for a monthly or annual HOA fee that takes care of any community spaces, landscaping, security, etc… It’s a cool concept if you have the expendable income.

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I don’t typically push sponsor stuff in posts, but this is a bit different. CB Structures contacted us about a sponsorship a few weeks ago and while checking out their site (to make sure they were relevant), I stumbled upon a great little online application. Essentially, the CB Structures Layout Planner allows you to generate your floor plan and then populate it with all of the furniture, vehicles, and other objects you plan to outfit your garage/shop with. It’s great for the dreamer or the builder…

Now, I know there are a ton of these little applications out there, but this one is just so simple. You really don’t have to invest anytime to figure out the functionality.

Check it out here.

I’ve long been a fan of tool rolls. In fact, I have vintage WWII tool rolls in every one of my portable tool boxes. They are just so damned simple and do their jobs so well that you can’t beat them with anything else. Eric at Hot Rod Leather had heard of my passion for rolled tools and sent over one of his new products – a handmade leather tool roll.

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Well, it’s done – the folks of The Garage Journal have spoken and Brad54 will take home the super sweet Montezuma tool box. I just wanted to thank all of you fellas that participated as well as Strictlytoolboxes.com for donating the box. This was a first for us and I think it was pretty cool.

Congrats Brad54!!!!