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

"CJ" wrote in message
. 17.102...
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 might try your local adult education schools for a welding class. You
could learn the basics fairly quickly.

Roger

On Sat, 20 May 2006 18:38:30 GMT, CJ wrote:

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.

Have you checked Ebay? I just replaced all the floor registers in my
home from ebay. Rather inexpensively. $15 actually.

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

Simple enough for even a hobbyist to do. Where do you live?

Gunner

"If thy pride is sorely vexed when others disparage your offering, be
as lamb's wool is to cold rain and the Gore-tex of Odin's raiment
is to gull**** in the gale, for thy angst shall vex them not at
all. Yea, they shall scorn thee all the more. Rejoice in
sharing what you have to share without expectation of adoration,
knowing that sharing your treasure does not diminish your treasure
but enriches it."

- Onni 1:33

Sure, teach yourself, its fun. Just do a bunch on stuff you toss before
doing anything for real. Here's a nice litle tutorial I came accross
http://www.aussieweld.com.au/arcwelding/index.htm


--
(©¿©) An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Two apples a day gets the doctor's OK.
Five a day makes you a fruit grower like me.

Karl Townsend

I'd probably do gas welding with an O/A torch for somethng like that - I've
got a gas setup which makes my choice. Alternatively, I'd braze with the
same equipment with interlocking the parts so that the braze isn't carrying
the load.
Either way, it isn't hard to do and shouldn't take very long to learn.
Small stuff is often best done with a TIG welder but a MIG welder will also
work well. A stick welder is usually too heavy for doing fine work.

--
Why do penguins walk so far to get to their nesting grounds?

Bob May wrote:

I'd probably do gas welding with an O/A torch for somethng like that - I've
got a gas setup which makes my choice. Alternatively, I'd braze with the
same equipment with interlocking the parts so that the braze isn't carrying
the load.
Either way, it isn't hard to do and shouldn't take very long to learn.
Small stuff is often best done with a TIG welder but a MIG welder will also
work well. A stick welder is usually too heavy for doing fine work.

--
Why do penguins walk so far to get to their nesting grounds?



Zen and the puddle.

http://www.airbum.com/articles/ArticleZenWelding.html

and a lot of other stuff related to building airplanes...

http://www.airbum.com/articles.html#How

If you currently have no welding equipment, then I suggest you pay
someone to weld the pieces. Guys that weld for a living do really nice
work--but yes, you can teach yourself the basics.

Gunner sagely wrote in
:

On Sat, 20 May 2006 18:38:30 GMT, CJ wrote:

Have you checked Ebay? I just replaced all the floor registers in my
home from ebay. Rather inexpensively. $15 actually.

I have checked a few times, but this particular register is larger than
most and is an odd size- so I figured that making one might be the fastest
way to take care of it. There is an ebay store that makes custom registers
but I doubt I could afford a custom made one.


Simple enough for even a hobbyist to do. Where do you live?

Battle Creek, MI

I'll go look up welding in the phone book to see if I can find someone
local... is there anything other than welding I should look under?

Thanks!
CJ

You sound a bit like me. If you can already "solder" (i.e. soft solder), you
can learn to braze (i.e. silver solder) with a decent sized (plumbers type)
propane torch. You need to get the metal up to red heat so you will need to
surround it with insulation bricks and/or sheet. I've done stuff like this
with bricks. You'll need to read up on fluxes and rods, but plenty of info
out there. Or you can more or less teach yourself simple MIG, I find the
gas-free "cored" wires are fine for the sort of stuff I need. I can't do
anything pretty, but you can get the visible side OK with an angle grinder
and car filler and paint. I wouldn't try and do anything load carrying where
a single weld failure could cause serious injury without training.

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.

"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