[notfarnow]

Aside from the scope of the project, I'll say this:

Last week I was about to pay someone $100 to weld up a snow plow mount on my Suzuki. A friend of mine offered me a 20 minute lesson on arc welding, and I was able to get a decent hang of it within 30 minutes or so. Within an hour I had the whole thing fabbed up.

Lotsa fun, and a great basic skill to have. I bet welding up a fence or gate would be a fun starter project, if you can afford the time.