Over the past year I've made leaps and bounds in my car repair knowledge and I've come to the point where i need to be able to raise my car off the ground and work under it. The obvious decision that came to mind was to purchase some jack stands. However I was discussing this with my father and he is of the opinion that jack stands are dangerous. He instead believes I should use ramps of some kind. I'm not convinced. He also doesn't think I should spend much money on this, suggesting that I nail some progressively smaller blocks of wood together as a kind of ramp. I have no intention of paying mechanics to do all my repairs for the rest of my life. What are your opinions on the safety of jack stands? (It's not like I've got the cash to drop on a huge lift)