Lots of people service their own regulators - and some of them actually do a decent job of it. We see the evidence of the amateur jobs in the shop on a routine basis and enjoy the extra cash (and chuckles) that the shoddy work creates.JahJahwarrior:I know, I always do things the unconventional way, but tons of people service their own regs. If they can do it, I'm sure I can do it.
You saved a bunch of money when you bought the regulator but don't have the training, manufacturer support, experience, parts or tools to do the service yourself. That's a lot to overcome. Normally I'd say it's fine for you to risk your neck by experimenting with self-teaching, so long as you have the regulator serviced by a trained tech before you actually use it. Unfortunately, it sounds like you're going to test your work on a family member, which would count as both evil and crazy.
One of the most important things learning does is teach you what you didn't even know you didn't know. The difference between a wise man and a fool is often little more than a willingness to learn and the ability to admit the need to.