Rob, my two cents worth. Come on down and I'll teach you to MIG in a couple hours or less. Most of it is in the settings, some things being compensated for through experience.
I'd go with a name brand unit such as a Lincoln (personal favourite), although Miller makes real nice equipment as does ESAB.
Go to a dealer such as Canox, Air Liquide or Praxair and tell the sales guy what you're up to. Sometimes these guys get rental or lease returns which can be picked up for a great price over brand new and most certainly come with warranty.
Set yourself a budget and buy the biggest, baddest unit for the money. To give you an example, if I were going to spend $1000, I'd sooner buy a name brand, pro off-lease unit rather than a Canadian tire hobby welder for $500 to $600. I am a more serious user but in the long run, you get what you pay for and if ever you wanted to sell it, a more professional unit has more appeal than a hobby crappo unit. I'd definately stay away from the 110V and go for 220V. Another suggestion is to stay away from the all in one stick, mig, tig units as these seldom do what is claimed they can do.
For resto work, especially on stuff such as softskins, a MIG is the best for a novice although I use TIG wherever I can ( a lesson for another day)
The welder at my shop is a Hobart which we picked up as a lease return and got for about half the price of new.
Sometimes you can find real good deals in the Triad newspaper or local classifieds.
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