I went from a TOTAL WELDING NOOB to sort of decent in about an hour—check out what I learned that made all the difference!

Broken, rusty parts are common fare for classic trucks. Rust penetrates the pores of older metal, and even with glass-beading and acid dips, rust remains chemically embedded in badly oxidized metal.

If you needed to weld something in a pinch, what’s the minimum complement of equipment you could get away with? In [Professor Bardal]’s case, it’s a couple of motorcycle batteries and a roll of ...