These days you can get a very good little wire-fed mig welder for around $3-400 bucks. Less than I paid for mine 10 years ago. They are excellent for armatures for several reasons. The head is small enough to get into tight spots. You aren't contantly having to "reload". They are very forgiving and easy to learn. You can even get rigs that will weld up to 3/8" steel and still run on ordinery 110v house current (some require 220v, which is fine if you have it everywhere you need it...but, I never have). Biggest advantage of "stick" welders is the ease of going from one kind of metal to another (just pick up a different rod), but to date, 99% of everything I've done in the last decade has been regular old steel. As for galvanized, I weld it all the time and can even weld stucco lath by dialing way down the mig. You do need to try and avoid the vapors, but many masks have filters in them today and staying "up wind" in even a slight breeze (or with a small fan) seems to keep the nasty stuff at bay. Notes on masks...you need the face protection, otherwise you can get a really bad sunburn anytime of year. Also, take a look at the new "Auto-Darkening" masks, but avoid any that are "solar-powered" unless you only work outdoors on sunny days between 11am & 2 pm. The good ones are NOT cheap (like $180 for a good one)...but then the last time I checked, replacement eyeballs are getting kinda' pricey thesedays too . Hornell-Speedglas is probably the best around and they are indeed proud of them.

Best of luck and remember...once you have a welder...you can be a metal sculptor too.

Tango, thanks!!
Sorry about the delay, this was a good week to see the end of!

Sounds encouraging! Is this a box-store item, or do I need to go elsewhere?
3/8" steel, galvanized or not, would cover my needs as far as I can foresee.
The "sticks" are the mystery I'd explore in the course, if I take it.
Sounds right up my alley though, versatile and "forgiving", great! 110v definitely.

The intimidating parts to me include the constant need to up and down
the visor thing, not being able to see what you're doing til you're doing it.
My eyeballs have vetoed any further trauma, period. What's left I need!
I'll look up the Hornell-Speedglass, well worth it.
No solar powered stuff, I'm planning to work mostly in the garage.

"Upwind" is my friend with concrete, I don't wear masks (it's a big garage,
with a constant breeze). A fan is also available.

Welding on expanded lath would be Heaven!

The inability to weld has stopped me doing many things for decades
and I have more time for this now.
I asked for a rebar hickey at H.D. No dice. Is it hard to make wide bends,
big diameter, with those? Is there another tool or just a matter of control?
I guess you could bend it around a form, like an old cable spool.

Thank you ever so much for your response, you're putting it in terms
that apply to my needs, something I don't necessarily expect from the course :o)

Hornell-Speedglas has the best "auto-darkening" masks around. You don't have to flip the mask or visor because they are not dark until the spark strikes. They are adjustable to four or five different shades and go dark in something like 1/30,000th of a second. So fast that you never see the spark. I ordered mine online and love it.
I"m surprised your HD didn't have a Hickey. All the stores around here carry them. How about Lowe's? If you have one in the area you could try there or look up a concrete specialty supplier(there's a national chain of stores called "White Cap" that sell nothing but concrete supplies.) They will also have better deals on rebar and MUCH fresher cement as well.
Good luck with the course. It should make mig work a breeze. You go girl!

Woo-hoo! Storm trooper! I shopped around a bit,
(skulls, gorillas, whodathunk!)
The link shows the best deals I found. Anything better that you know of?

Do you cut the rebar with a hack saw? You must have a cutter.
Are the bender-cutter combos any good? I find that combos generally aren't.

This is getting exciting! They only have 10 places in the course for
each run, so, Jauary, March, etc. and their catalog comes out first week
in January. If I make it into the January one I'll take it as a go-ahead.
No shopping til I'm in! I have three friends who are also
interested.

Did you by any chance see that Niki de Saint-Phalle/Tarot Garden site
I posted back when? If not, please let me know and I'll re-post it,
it's not at all what you do, but I think you might enjoy it.
It's not what I want to do either, but there is such abundance/exuberance
you can't help being inspired.

Here is a link that might be useful: helmet shopping

The helmet prices look the same as what I paid. Other safety items needed include a simple, clear face shield to protect you while cutting & grinding and some fairly heavy leather gloves for cutting and welding. Cut ends can leave razor-edged burrs.

If you are gonna' work with rebar a lot, I'd suggest you pick up a Chop Saw. If you can find a 12 to 14 inch one with angle cut capabilities, all the better, it'll leave you less grinding to do later. And speaking of grinders...you will need one of those too. A four or four and a half inch electric can be had for twenty bucks these days. Check places like Harbor Freight or Northern Tool Supply online for real cheapo deals (especially their sale items). I just picked up a 4 1/2" Chinese grinder on sale at Harbor Freight for $8.99. Not the world's best, but whadda'ya expect for nine bucks? It does the same things my $80 dollar Makita does and if it croaks, I can buy nine more and still break even.

Don't recall the "Tarot" site, but would love to see it. Til then, have a great New Year.

Someone mentioned using an angle grinder to cut as well?

I think I'll wing it with the simplest tools first and buy more as
they become absolutely necessary.
I'd love something like a giant bolt cutter (the noise!)

I'm impressed with all the finishing you do. Does that really matter
when it's all going to be covered in concrete?
On thin legs and filigree-like stuff I can see it, but forms that will have
at least 1/2" of concrete over them? (I'm lazy and my techniques are
adapted to years of making do with what's around. And no welding!)

Thanks for all your help, I'm printing this!

Here's Niki

Here is a link that might be useful: Follow the arrows

There are dozens of useful accessories for angle grinders including cutting disks. All cheap.
I saw an Angle grinder on sale for less than $10US this week.
You might never wear out the one disk it comes with.
Everyone should have an angle grinder for this hobby.
There are plenty of great brushes for angle grinders you can use on your tufa as well. Disks that cut cement are also cheap, or you can invest in a diamond blade that will last forever.

It is a must have tool if you are serious about using steel.

O-M-G!!! Thank you for the repost. I had not seen this magical place before. What an amazingly fabulous delight! It's like Alice...on REALLY GOOD drugs...AND...in 3-D! Cheers to Nki (?) and thanx again to you.

BTW...you can cut with an angle grinder, but it's is MUCH slower and eats disks. There are "cutting" disks (very thin) and there are "grinding" disks ('bout a quarter inch thick), and while you can accomplish either task with either disk, you can't do it very efficiently. Another nice thing about a "cut-off" or "chop saw" is that you can set it up on a long bench and arrange a "Stop" system for cutting various lengths without having to measure & mark each piece. (Remember, rebar starts out twenty feet long.) I hardly ever measure my rebar for cutting anymore and it really makes a huge difference when making multiple cuts to a common length. I'll try and post a pic of the homemade "Stop" system I use these days...'til then, shop around and if you can, visit a local welding/metal shop and observe (steal) some of their working practices. Especially how they hold stuff in position for welding. Clamps?...magnets(?)...auto-levitator(?). Best wishes...

Hi Tango
I use a 14" chopsaw as well and even though it isn't designed for it I use a 14" concrete cutting disk in it as well once in a while. It's perfect for cutting and squaring up handmade concrete tiles, like the 2" square ones I use in my "Tufa" chess boards. I cut damp but not wet to keep down the dust.
I'm planning a concrete backgammon board soon and the chopsaw will be handy for cutting those pieces I'm sure.

A 'wet' tile saw for cutting this stuff would be nice and I may look in to buying one this spring.

I use rare earth magnets (VERY powerful) from Lee Valley tools to hold steel. Tango if you haven't tried these you should. You will be amazed.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rare Earth Magnets

David --- I have a couple of small rare-earth magnets and they are indeed amazingly powerful for their size...but one note/observation...for some reason my little mig-welder is sensitive to strong magnetic fields. When I try to tack something that is held in place with them, it sputters and will barely make an arc (?). Same is true when using the "standard" arrowhead shaped welding magnets. If any of you "real" welders know the story on this, please share. I wanted Linnea to be aware of this phoenomena. Maybe her teacher in the welding course will know the skinny on this...and maybe a cure.