BikeBrewer

Hi, I'm starting to set up a hobby smith workshop and I'm wondering what I should start with for welding. I eventually want to get into stainless and aluminum welding with the capability to so sanitary welds. I have no formal training at all, but I've welded with stick, mig, and tig, including stainless and titanium. I was a crappy stick welder, but I did all right with mig and tig through practice, as I was always basically just shown the equipment and told to go at it. I haven't done any welding for years, but I have grad level courses in welding theory, metallurgy, and microstructual elements in metals, though I need to re-read the texts. I'm on a limited budget right now, but would rather buy the right equipment first, though my budget would be limited to $750 at the high end. Initially I'm looking just at dealing with mild steel, so I could work with an oxy/acetylene set-up, if that's the way to go right now. Thoughts or recommendations? Mark

Sorry, I meant worth keeping myself. Is there any reason I'd want to keep it because it would be useful for something in blacksmithing. Thanks for the black powder idea. Mark

I pulled out my old drain pipes, which are lead. Is there any reason to keep it? It's about 15-20 lbs worth. Also, any idea how to stop the water from running out of the walls now? ;)