Working with metal

[zoll]

You don't need a welder at all to work with metal.
Welding in itself is a whole other process but I believe it was Mario that put it to me like this some years ago, a bolt is stronger than a bad weld but a good weld is stronger than a bolt. Basically it takes some time to get good at welding and in the mean time bolting everything will do the job fine.

Thanks for the quick responses, my goal was eventually to build a heavy weight which from what I gather are usually metal in constructions. Hence I was looking to start doing some 'bad welds' on a feather and build up to good welds on a heavy. But do people think I would be able to start learning to weld from scratch and how much would it cost to do so? Also what type of welding do people use, arc or mig?