you just said that you have never seen a welder, but your friend just happens to be a welder. Im guessing that you used your friends welder, and that he set it up and supervised you to make sure everything was done safely. Also you were using a mig welder which is the easiest and safest welder to use. Im not saying that you cant weld with out instruction, im just saying it isnt safe to. You are dealing with a large amount of heat and electricity in an open environment, and if you dont know what your doing, that is unsafe.