Cody, I'd like to suggest that you contact your local vocational school or high school shop. Maybe you can meet with an instructor to explain your interest and get a chance to try welding out. If you find you like it then you should enroll in a class.
Also if you have any friends or relatives with welding equipment, they might let you give it a try. I suggest you go the school route if you can though. You can learn a lot from friends but there is a lot more to welding than meets the eye.
Hope it works out for you, we can always use a good welder.
CHguilford

Check out the Hobart Institute of Welding Technology at http://www.welding.org or call 1-800-332-9448, ext. 5090 for a free course catalog or a promotional video.

Hi Cody. Learning how to be a good welder in my opinion takes alot of dedication. There are many different proccesses that need to be learned as well as metallurgical properties. Your motor skills have to be fine tuned thru years and years of practice.
I would recomend focusing your energy towards a rewarding carrer in information technology.
If not that and you are bound and determined to learn a skilled trade be an electrician. There is a much higher demand.

Cody,
Nothing instills pride more than the fruits of Man's creativity. Especially if it's yours. If you want to learn to weld, seek instruction. I freely recognize the advantage of having a good teacher... that's common sense.

How soon do you want to start, and precisely what do you want to get from the skill?

The PRIMARY CONCERN is to be safe at all times. Like driving a car a mistake can, at worst, mean death. Don't be casual with independent experimentation. Understand all of the many hazards and protect yourself and others from them. To repeat myself, It's important to learn and fully master all safety precautions that pertain to whatever process and equipment you are using. I knew a helicopter pilot in the army who described a fellow officer's 98% in a skills test as "he only crashes twice every hundred times he flys"... bear that in mind.

Any good instructor should be able to insure you are not injured or killed by neglect or accident, or frustrated by wrong equipment or poor technique. Read all you can on the subject and define exactly what kind of welding you wnat to learn... check the public library and read all they have... and shop around for school opportunities. Apparently the Navy offers the broadest training of the various military branches, and they do eat better than the Army. If it's a carreer you are looking for find out what you can about present and projected employment opportunity for where you expect to live. School guidance or carreer counselors should be a help.

If you do choose to get a book, some equipment, and try to teach yourself, consider that your teacher will never know any more about the subject than you do.

Regards,
d

Cody, are you interested in welding as a career or do you want to learn to weld for your own personal interests/needs?

Ken