Metal Welding

What’s something small that I can use for welding/fusing metal as well as plastic for art pieces?

I like using recycled objects for art. I was wondering what kind of tools I’d need to first cut and then weld/fuse pieces of found metal for small to medium sculptures. I don’t want to buy a whole workshop! Also something small that I can use to fuse or shape plastics. Safety tips for doing this kind of thing are appreciated. Thanks!
It would be thinner metal mostly.

depends how small the pieces and how complex. A dremel tool with cutoff disks can cut through small pieces of metal. Or you get a jewelry/piercing saw with sawblades for metal. Thin metal like alu cans can be cut with tin snips or even scissors.

Welding/soldering metal is indeed a broad subject. It really depends what metals they are, how thick, how firm a bond you need. Soldering might be an option. A General Purpose thing is probably just using 2 component epoxy glue. You can also use this on plastic. Should work fine on small stuff. For temporarily holding things in shape you can use a glue gun.

Shaping plastic is generally done using heat and a mold. Look up how people make bowls out of record disks, a simple search should give you plenty instructions. Though given the wide variety of plastics you will have to experiment anyway.

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