I've wanted to learn how to tig weld since I was in college.  I graduated in 1998, it was always impractical for me due to some combination of time, money, other interests, work, moving all over the world, etc.  I finally got my welder a few months ago - Lincoln squarewave 200.  They had a 25% rebate a few months ago, making the cost under $1200 and I couldn't resist anymore.  Wish I could've done it sooner, but it just wasn't practical for me until very recently.

My advice?  Wait for a good deal, but don't wait forever.  I hate the phrase, but "buy once cry once" applies.  I wrestled with the cheap import welders (ie everlast, etc) and am glad I went with Lincoln.  My time is very valuable to me, and the stories of dealing with warranty repairs on the low-end welders scared me.  If that's not a big deal to you then the cheap imports might be a good choice.  I like the lincoln - it does all I need, has more power than I need, and the local welding store services lincoln.

I'd never welded anything in my life before I got it.  I watched every YouTube video that exists and read two books.  After a couple hours of welding scrap metal together I upped my game with a harbor freight tube notcher and some 0.080 steel tubing.  It doesn't look like I've been welding my whole life and I'm no YouTube welding star, but I can hammer it flat and generally destroy it and it doesn't come apart so I'm happy.  I just finished my second tank of argon, so far I've made a few special wrenches, a digging bar, a small metal stove that the kids burn the yard sticks in, and a single shot barrel with integral silencer.

First tube welds:
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Flattened tube welds:
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45acp barrel with a lug for a Rossi rifle I made and welded on.  Barrel is about 6 inches and I welded a 15inch long tube on the muzzle.  Have an aluminum bar that slides inside the tube that I have yet to machine into a monocore.  
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Youngest daughter wanted a hammer:
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Looks very good for only having a few hours in.

cool.

Well done.
It's a shame that more young men and women aren't introduced into skilled trades at the high school age. Welding and other trades can make for a very rewarding and lucrative career.

Started to learn aluminum.  Biggest issue is how hard it is too judge heat.  This  stuff I'm learning on is thin though, 1/16 and 1/8.

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Work travel is cramping my welding practice, only on my 5th tank of argon.  Aluminum is coming along and is "ok" but I'm a stickler and it's far from perfect.  
I made a hand cart for gas bottles.  I strap the tank to it, wheel it up driveway, and cart/bottle stand in the corner until I wheel it out for a refill.

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Little gas can for lawn mower.  Holds about 2/3 gallon which is good for a month or two in the 'burbs.  
made from metal out of the machine shop recycle dumpsters at work, rolled strips into rings and welded them together to make the body of the tank.  $20 chinesium fill cap from eBay.  
Not a single pinhole anywhere!  

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Wow! I'm impressed...

I learned to stick & mig around age 9 on the farm. Been welding ever since. I learned to TIG on a deployment to the sandbox. Got over there and there was a brand new Miller Dynasty 350 (Cadillac of Tig welders) that nobody knew how to use. So I watched some videos and dug in with practice. No formal education... I'm decent but not as good as you.

I’m very jealous!! I unlike you went the cheap route. I have a fluxcore machine, I did get DC power. When I was a teenager I had a job where I was shown how to stick weld a bit. My issue now is that after the spark my helmet darkens and even after adjusting it I can’t see anything?? I think I need more light in the shop.

I'm interested in the little stove - got any pics of that?

Nice job OP.  I'm self taught (MIG and Stick) as well, and youtube is an incredible tool.  As soon as I clear the deck of home improvement things I want to pick up a TIG and learn.

I got tired of my welder sitting on a shelf so I made a cart.  It's a harbor freight side-cabinet toolbox, often on sale for $200.  Its excellent quality and the perfect footprint for a medium-large welder to sit on top.  I made a frame from scrap angle iron that attaches to the bottom and put casters on it.  Made some hooks from aluminum strips.  I have a very long power cord and gas hose, the gas bottle stays in the corner of my garage and the welder can now roll anywhere it needs to go.  I need to make a heavy duty hook on the back to hang the rolled up extension cord and gas hose.  I drilled a hole in the edge of the foot pedal and made a hook it hangs on.  

The cabinet is great, but it's a bit taller than I'd like.  Plenty of drawers, would get rid of 2-3 to make it shorter if I could.  

Were I to do it again I would likely get the smallest harbor freight rolling cabinet.  It's under $300 on sale and just wider than the side cabinet.  By the time you buy casters the side cabinet is barely cheaper.  But I liked that it wasn't so wide.  

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I bought the same toolbox for storing stuff for my mill.  I was limited on space and it fit perfectly.  I used 2” square tubing and made a subframe for the caster.

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It was the first Harbor Freight box I bought and I am very happy with the quality.

I should build a home gym.  A bit light at 20lbs, but I have a small pile of railroad spikes and will weld them on the outside to add weight after cutting the heads off.  I knew having my kids collect train track metal would come in handy someday!

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Garage is about 2-3 feet below the door into the house so there are wood stairs and landing at the door.  I store ammo under the stairs and it is a major pain to dig ammo out if it's not in front.  

I paid my daughter $5 to drag home a bed frame that was on the curb down the road and used the angle iron to build a drawer.  I had no idea bed frames were so tough - the steel basically cannot be drilled or saw cut, only abrasive cutting works well.  

I made a rectangular frame as long as the landing is wide and as wide as 50cal ammo can.  Scavenged a pair of skateboard trucks on noe end and a pair of $4 Home Depot iron casters on the other end.  It's a drawer that pulls out from under the landing and holds ammo cans stacked two high.  

I'm going to make one to fit 30 cal cans and one that is just a flat shelf for stacking cardboard cases of ammo.  

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The HF furniture dollies are cheap when on sale, good source for (4) casters.

The aluminum welds look good to me!

Newspaper Cat says "I should learn to weld."

Nice work.  I have a few welders.  All self taught, unless you count my dad yelling at me for doing it wrong, grabbing the stinger from my hand and doing the entire thing himself.  For the most part I can weld good enough to do what needs done in a reasonable amount of time.  That changed when I bought a TIG welder.  Now I'm looking for things to weld.  Anything to put time behind the torch.  I'm nearing the end of my second bottle of argon and just now feeling like I can go at something not easily replaced.  

I love the project pics.  Keep it going.  Anyone who is not a professional welder should appreciate all of this.

I made a few dedicated T wrenches from 3/8 stainless bar.  This one is 10 mm.  

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Looks good OP! That's exactly how you learn - watch and do! The more you wed correctly, the better you will get. I like Jody's videos at Welding Tips and Tricks

The first welding project I ever did was cutting and modifying a smaller manual thumb (eBay deal) for my excavator. It was too short for my bucket. I cut the toothed section off and welded on longer sections of 3/4" plate steel, with teeth cut into them, connected by 2" solid bar stock. Then I welded the thumb plate to my 10-ton excavator. I did it with a Readywelder II - a battery powered DC welder running .35 flux core off the two excavator batteries giving ~250 amps of pure DC. It's been quite a long time since, and the fugly weld has held.

Way to go, op. I learned to weld by accepting a training position in a shipyard, and working my way up, along with a few college courses. I was pretty proud when I passed my first class radiological tests.
I have an Everlast tig/stick/mig welder, and its still going strong after 4 years. I think most machines are made in China anymore.
Everyone should have a skill they can fall back on.
Keep it up!

*protect your lungs and skin when you weld. I've had various skin cancers from exposed areas over the years. Dr. Tells me it is very intense exposure and may have caused it. Maybe not. Be safe.

Made a mount for a cheap lee press that is dedicated to depriming.  Primers fall down the tube underneath and I tape a sandwich bag to the tube to catch them then just throw away the bag.  The angle iron part clamps in a vise.  Now the carbon from depriming is kept off my nice presses and off my reloading bench.  

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Made a flower vase for the wife that is thin enough to sit on the kitchen windowsill.  

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Man; great stuff!!  Color me jealous.  I've wanted a Tig setup for sometime now.  Maybe when Joe breaks the bank with my next CV check I can get one.