There were a few places that I ground it down enough to get through the zinc and the wedling was a joy but for most of it I dealt with lots of splatter and got a staggered puddled weld. I'm a lousy welder but it looks much worse than normal. It would be much easier to start with 14" steel pipe. You also wouldn't have to deal with the curves on each end. The curves actually add a fair amount of work. For example, you have to taper the grill mesh you cook on.