How did you learn to weld?

a few tips here and there, watching videos, getting set up with good mig/tig welders and equipment.theres no subsitute for hands on experience. i started with various guage metal scraps and diving right in and learning hands on. you will develop a feel for whats going on.ask questions and experiment with your welder and heat ranges and wire . i have had only a limited amount of hours in my welding class in high school and i just picked it up 2 years ago, 20 years later, and i did all the sheet metal patching and all the frame and various other welding jobs on my jeep with great results.there is a ton of info all over the net ,but like i said nothing beats getting right in there and doing it and learning as you go and developing a technic. i found that it can be a lot of fun and very rewarding ,and its not as hard as people think.of course it takes years to achieve very professional results if appearance is an issue.i have never welded aluminum ,i hear it takes a ton of skill.