"Don Foreman" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 20 May 2006 18:38:30 GMT, CJ wrote:

I haven't done any metalworking, but I'm fairly crafty (pottery and other
crafts) and not afraid of DIY (I've done things like rewiring my house,
plumbing replacement, that kind of stuff).

I've never done any welding, because I've never known anyone with a welder
or anyone who could teach me, so I want to find out how difficult welding
is compared to other types of skills.

I don't plan on making a full-time hobby of it, but I need a replacement
cold air return floor grate and given the prices of even an old used one,
I
could probably buy at least some of the equipment needed to just make my
own with a few pieces of angle iron and other scrap- I'd just need to
build
a lip and then a lattice pinned to the lip with crosspieces underneath for
additional support.

Is this something I could teach myself to do, if I'm not worried about a
perfect product, or do I need to find someone experienced to teach me? My
alternative would be to cut and shape all the pieces and try to find
someone (maybe at a local auto body shop or something) to just tack the
pieces together for me.

Thanks,
CJ

You can learn to weld self-taught, but it will take some time and
practice. I am completely self-taught and do OK most days. Been
doing it for 25 years and I'm still learning.....

For a one-off, better to have someone weld it for you. That said,
it is a very useful skill to develop if you might use it on other
projects.

If it is a cost factor and the only project you want to make in metal you
would be better of to just take the measurements in to a welding/fab shop.
But as Don said it is a useful skill to have in your bag of tricks

As to the problem of a cold air return grill. If it needs to be metal (the
house I grew up in had oak retun grills). I would go to the scrap yard and
pick up some walkway grating. Cut it to size with a skill saw/abrasive
blade or sawz all and add a frame of angle iron to the floor for it to drop
into. QED
Glenn