Thanks, all. I took a break from the book to do this but beginning today, back to writing. Hard to be torn between hobbies with so little time to do any!
I don't know the gauge steel but it is a bit thicker than strap iron, used in the construction industry. I used a dremel cutoff wheel to go thru the steel. It took a lot of wheels and a lot of grinding and filing the resultant rough edges. I tried my hand at soldering the steel with a propane torch but it didn't work too well for me. Perhaps the wrong flux and solder. I ended up using three types of epoxies: 24 hour, 5 minute and the putty type. Then filing and grinding and sanding the resulting mess. Soldering would have been the way to go, however. That and mechanical fasteners, using mini bolts. But didn't want to do a lot of drilling and stuff. But had I more time, it would have been the way to go, I'm sure. For bending, I used pliers, duckbill pliers and a hammer and a piece of 1:1 rail. Bending was the most frustrating part, esp. where there are multiple inward bends, the tools get in the way. That and the bend sometimes isn't where you want it and curves in the wrong way or isn't a clean curve. I used a lot of metal and rework and it still isn't right. Rivets made with a heavy duty center punch and sledge hammer.
I'm sure I used all of the wrong techniques and working with steel is pretty frustrating, but OTOH, it was an enjoyable learning experience. I did the who thing in probably 25-30 hours. I realize that to really do a more professional job I'd need several times that time.