new welder help

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Hi,I've never welded before and I'm about to try to learn. I will be using a Lincoln sp170t mig welder. I've seen references to getting metal at a scrap yard, or from a steel supplier. I have two questions.1) if you get metal at a scrap yard how do you buy it? Is it by the piece? by the pound? If I was buying for a project would I go and say i need X feet of 2x2x1/4 square stock and X by Y sheet of 1/4" steel? What is the price differential between doing this or going to a supplier?2) Can anyone reccommend a place to buy steel in southeastern massachusetts?
Reply:Scrap yards are buy pound, suppliers charge mostly dimensionally on small stuff (may charge based on weight at the commercial level).  Scrap yards will tend to be cheaper, but you will probably have a harder time finding what you need in any real quantity.
Reply:Scrap steel is less BUT if you are building something you may want new steel because you will have to deal with any rust and that can cost you more than the difference of the price of used over new. It depends what you are building and the condition of the used steel.I think you should take a beginning welding class before building a project. Another alternative is to get another experienced welder to be your mentor. Maybe offer a free lunch or something for a little advice.To be honest it really scares me when anyone with no training at all goes and buys a welding machine. Sorry but thats how i feel. I know others may disagree.Last edited by Donald Branscom; 09-24-2008 at 03:49 PM.AWS certified welding inspectorAWS certified welder
Reply:Originally Posted by Donald BranscomScrap steel is less BUT if you are building something you may want new steel because you will have to deal with any rust and that can cost you more than the difference of the price of used over new. It depends what you are building and the condition of the used steel.I think you should take a beginning welding class before building a project. Another alternative is to get another experienced welder to be your mentor. Maybe offer a free lunch or something for a little advice.To be honest it really scares me when anyone with no training at all goes and buys a welding machine. Sorry but thats how i feel. I know others may disagree.