re: I want to learn to weld..

Somewhere in my basement, I have a couple of books on the history of welding, Pretty interesting stuff, especially when the steel ship building industry evolved.

There are so many specialty steels, high strength alloys, composites each demands a specialized joining process to understand the interactions of the base metals, filler metals, the microstructures of each in the weld pool, the heat affected zones (non fused areas around the weld joints), joint strength/design, Also have to consider preheats and cooling rates on the weld pool and final microstructure, avoiding hydrogen embrittlement, cracking etc.

Good news, you don't need any of this stuff to build a grill, a buzzbox, and some welding electrodes, grinder and wire wheel is about all you need. I'd recommend a 308 stainless steel welding rod, welds won't rust, easy to weld with.