Most commonly I use an old (I've had it for 23 or more years and it was old when I got it) 50 amp Craftsman arc welder. It is finicky on rods, and for mild steel it prefers a 3/32 6011 welding rod. It has served me well over many years, repairing fences, welding window bars to keep the two legged vermin out, to making all sorts of fixtures, brackets and jigs. It doubles as a pipe thawer in the winter time as needed as well - while that might be outside the scope of its original purpose and thus void its warranty, the manufacturer has recently went bankrupt and it is way past any warranty. The device is essentially a big transformer. Over the years I have replaced the rod holder, the ground clamp and much of the external wiring, but all in all it has been a very versatile and useful piece of equipment. Surviving the rather severe abuse I have put it through is a testament to its reliability. The last thing I welded with it was a repair to the undercarriage of an office chair a few days ago.
I did add a Miller 625 plasma cutter a few years back, which sees occasional use cutting every such sort of metal around, from opening up laundry coin boxes I've lost the keys to to cutting metal for brackets, braces and gussets, anything not easily done by a chop saw, which often gets follow up welding from my little stick welder. Until recently both were stored in the basement of a building I own when not in use and subjected to an environment with much too much humidity for part of the year. The plasma cutter did survive that and its recent run in with a few laundry machine coin boxes, so I guess it is aging well.
A rather ugly but functional weld typical of my small stick welder.
an image, just because, of the replacement knob I turned when I put the chair back together and broke the original one
(because that is how stuff usually goes for me - a step forward, a step back, repeat).
For the future, I really want a TIG setup as I 'think' I have need of the ability to weld stainless and aluminum, but the pressure on me to get one has not exceeded my desire not to spend the money on one to date - at least not when I have been near a welding supply store or on the internet at a retailer selling them. With the recent purchase of the building next door and its full unfinished basement along with a two car garage, along with retirement looming in the not too distant future, I will probably pick up some more tooling to add those capabilities that I 'think' I need. Time will tell. Rich
