I would suggest that you start with gas because it is more versatile -
welding with gas is slower and has other disadvantages, but you can silver
solder, braze, etc, and you can also heat/aneal/cut metal, and you can heat
stuck things (like rusty bolts) and get them unstuck. An arc welder can
only weld. That said, if you will only be welding, then start with a
basic arc welder - others will no doubt provide lots of good advice - my
advice is to get a good quality used unit that goes up to around 300 amps -
shouldn't cost you over $100 if you look around.

And, yes, I learned both arc and gas welding from a book, and my welds are
ok - my local welding shop had the book. If you can read and practice, you
can learn from the book. My first gas weld project, in the 70s, was to
build the cart to hold my tanks and stuff - it's still in use today, so
though it wasn't a thing of beauty, the welds were "good enough".

"davefr" wrote in message
...
I'd like to learn basic welding for project work/small repairs around
the shop. I don't plan to do anything fancy and most of the work will
be with mild steel.

Which welding technology is easiest to learn and less forgiving for a
newbie?? (acetylene or arc)

Does anyone have a favorite site welding site for newbies?