Bigtruckdriver makes a very good point. There is no other piece of equipment that you will outgrow as fast as a welder, so buy one that will last your needs for the forseeable future, even if you have to save up a little longer. Everybody says they are only going to use it occasionally and only weld thin stuff, but it never ends up that way. Once you start using one the handiness of them makes you want to do more and more stuff.

I realize we all have budgets and not all of us need industrial quality equipment, but for a hundred bucks or so above the figure you mentioned you will get so much more use out of it.

Don