I don't remember ever seeing a journal and i am on my third play through. (?)
My upgrades always came from a tripod located somewhere around Skyhold.
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On a desk in your quarters at Skyhold is a glowie, pick that up to unlock three recipes. These are then shown in the Journal; for me, they were then shown in the Journal under Collections > Skyhold Customisations > Major Upgrades.
Once you have the ingredients for an upgrade, they are made at the Requisitions table (in the Quartermasters room near Cassandra) and then (once made) you need to go to a specific location in Skyhold to make the choice and finish things.
I found this and that guide and this other helpful.
Edit: you'll need a few logging stands and quarries. I found this useful for that.
