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["Warren" <mogrits AT gmail.com>]

> What do I want to weld?
> Right now, there is a lawn tracktor frame I want to reconfigure
> for another use.  So that would be less than quarter inch steel. 
> There is a pipe frame for a livestock gate I want to put
> together..  There's a project using steel drums to make a small
> grain silo, so that would be sheet, kind of.  There are some
> reapirs to a wagon that will use pipe and angle iron.  Is it
> possible to seld the thin walled electric conduit?  That would
> simplify another project.
> I don't know of any cast iron right now.
> Mig and Tig are too expensive for me at this time.  I have a very
> small MAP OXY setup, for soldering plumbing.  That empties an Oxy
> tank in a few minutes.  Much too short to do anything besides
> some copper pipe.

You need a small "wire-welder". It uses a flux-cored wire that eliminates
the need for an inert gas, but most come ready to add the gas later if you
want to do mig or tig welding. Yes it's possible to weld electrical conduit
and the wire welder would do the job.

My biggest suggestion, no matter what kind of welder/welding you decide on,
is to buy an auto-darkening welding helmet. They only cost about 60.00 now.
One of the hardest things for a novice welder to do is line up his work,
flip down the old-style helmet, and start his arc "in the dark". The
auto-darkeners eliminate the head flip and the dark aspect by instantly
darkening once the arc is struck. Make sure the helmet has a test button.

Inexpensive wire welder
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=94056

Inexpensive helmet
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91214

The duty cycle is low on the welder I posted, but it is 110 volts which can
be an issue for some people.

Warren