$20?!? You can buy a few sticks to put in an arc welder if you can find someone to loan you one.

I'm going to second, third, and fourth the advice to hie thee to your local community college. They'll fill you in on safety right off the bat which is something everyone should be started on.

After you get going a bit, you can bring in projects of your own to work on. And get expert advice on how to do it.

Or wait, your profile says high school. Do they have metal shop there?

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K