When I was a kid, I had a junker 20" of some sort, and there was some other partial bikes around the farm. I decided to make one out of the best parts of all the bikes. I found a 3 speed hub, and a shifter, and started working away. (I think I was around 10yrs) anyway, I found I needed the longer chain off one of the bikes, and so I found the master link and took it off the donor.

Then I could not find a master link on the bike I wanted to ride, and having never heard of a chain tool, I decided to cut the chainstay with a hacksaw, confident my dad could weld it back together when he returned from work.

The bike was all built and ready to ride when my dad got home(except for the slice through the chainstay). I was proud of my efforts, but dismayed to learn, that you DO NOT put on a chain by cutting through the chain stay.

My dad was able to braze the thing together so in the end my confidence was not misplaced.