: having a good reason to buy a new tool is always a good thing.
Ken,
Well, welding doesn't come easy for me. My dad was the consumate welder, machinst, fabricator and designer. If it could be done in steel he could do it. On a farm, at least a profitable one, you are constantly repairing equipment designed by "engineers" and produced with the assistance of accountants. So it breaks a lot in normal usage. The bain of any farmer is cast iron. The accountants may love it 'cause it's a lot cheaper than a steel forging, but catch a chuck hole with the caster wheel on a hayrake and that casting will break. I watched my dad as he fabbed up an replacement from pipe and angle with the welder. The Farmall "H"'s we used had a nasty habit of snapping the steering spindal. This was a $180 part against a $8,000 profit on a tractor we paid maybe $300 for at auction of an unprofitable farm. Dad would weld this 2.5" casting on a channel iron jig to prevent it warping as it cooled.

I can recall dad having me torch out rivets on a truck frame we were rebuilding as a hay wagon. I must have been all of six. "Get it cherry, then hit it with the oxygen."

But I've always been drawn to wood. Dad was a fair carpenter, but never a joiner or cabinet maker. He even welded up his sawhorses and shelving. His father, my grandfather, built timber framed strucures, mostly barns. One time my dad was admiring the kitchen cabinets I'd built and said, "Your grandfather would be proud." Meant a lot to me coming from a hard man who didn't pass out many compliments.

Nevertheless, saddling myself with this 15 acre "farmette" about ten years ago, I found one needs equipment to keep the wilderness at bay and the snow clear. Of course, the equipment still breaks. So off to the Farm and Family for a Lincoln AC/DC welder on sale. So now I'm relearning those old lessons on using it. But you will not find me welding up a jonboat out of flattened 55 gallon drums like my dad did! At least, I haven't come across the steel drum boatbuilding forum yet!
Be Well,
Geo. C.