I learned how to weld (MIG) and built a giant mushroom to house a mannequin I dubbed "the mushroom man" over about 100 hours in the last 4 weeks. I covered the outside with thick foam panels cut to size, cementing them in place with copious amounts of spray foam. I shaved the outside to a nice shape with a sawzall and the inside I covered in chicken-fenced, then attached a painters tarp to that (so it could be painted on).
To fit on a trailer (the mushroom's cap is 11.5ft wide) the cap comes off the stem and the edges of the cap are two half-moons which have fixed mounting points where threaded rod sticks through some welded washers, and a nut is put on in place. I was too last minute to install the 200 WS2811 pixels and have them run some cool patterns, before the music festival I brought it to came time, but even just a lantern on top (another painters tarp covered the cap's metal-frame, and everything was spray painted) looked great.
Super fun project. Expensive, but I learned a lot, got to be creative, and I'm happy to try out new things and make the best of my before-children time. Also, it was such a joy seeing people croud around the mushroom (and site beside the mushroom man inside) at night during the festival.
MIG is really just a glue gun for metal. For things where structural integrity isn’t critical you MIG stuff together by watching a couple YouTube videos and then going at it.
What I appreciated about metal shop class is the casual (software-like?) attitude towards toolmaking. Would that step go better with a jig? Weld one up on your workbench, and then angle grind everything off when you move to the next phase...
I was using my dad's shop and MIG welder, so he was able to give me an intro. A buddy of mine is a millwright and came over and kindly taught me some tricks which brought me welds up to an acceptable quality.
After learning, I'd have to agree with one of the other responses, learning by Youtube is probably feasible. It's safer than I expected (less concern about touching metal in the ground path) though I'd strongly recommend investing in quality gloves, a quality helmet, and good thick pants, and a long-sleeved shirt / overcoat.
I thought about taking a course but I found this way of learning a lot more fun and engaging (if you're fortunate, as I am, to have experienced people in your life).
To fit on a trailer (the mushroom's cap is 11.5ft wide) the cap comes off the stem and the edges of the cap are two half-moons which have fixed mounting points where threaded rod sticks through some welded washers, and a nut is put on in place. I was too last minute to install the 200 WS2811 pixels and have them run some cool patterns, before the music festival I brought it to came time, but even just a lantern on top (another painters tarp covered the cap's metal-frame, and everything was spray painted) looked great.
Super fun project. Expensive, but I learned a lot, got to be creative, and I'm happy to try out new things and make the best of my before-children time. Also, it was such a joy seeing people croud around the mushroom (and site beside the mushroom man inside) at night during the festival.