He'll think you're an absolute genius. The hardest part is just getting off your butt, building the first one and getting it adjusted. Even before you've finished it, you'll already have big ideas and even bigger plans for the next receiver and the one after that. C F Rockey, in his Secrets of Homebuilt Regenerative Receivers , will tell you about his experiences building and adjusting them during the glory days of amateur radio. And the book on this web page will tell you how to scrounge parts and build a working radio on the cheap today.
Parts are available.
And they're dirt cheap. You have to know where to look, and how to adapt. Here you'll learn how it's done. Here, you'll learn the practical aspects of finding old components and adapting them to your goal of building a little radio. You'll learn how to make it happen.