I have followed that weld.com youtube page for a while and dam… MR TIG is amazing! Jay Leno brings him in for special repairs and I watched a kick ass way to even do titanium at the hive safely… all you need is masking tape and 2 regulator lines. You may be thinking about the commercial Lincoln Tig that was VERY well known on the market however they did away with it because it ran about 4k for just the tig and push that hobby model now that would be erratic for thin stuff. I know in the end price will be a factor as well so we might be able to get a demo welder etc. for quite a bit cheaper and when push comes to shove if somewhere has that older lincoln that can warranty it, or we go to ESAB, or even thermal arc, AHC, etc to teach the other than mild steel we need a low amp start… aiming for 5 amps so people dont start with a hole as soon as the arc starts.
Do you want me to move a proposal for 4,000 for the welding room as we have used VERY little money from the budget. It would cover :
Upgrading to a intermediate TIG
Cover install parts
Cover the ducting upgrade for ventilation
Get supporting jigs, heat sinks, prep tools
make a tungsten jig
A second led hanging work light for moving the table if needed and better visibility.
Likely a fresh coat of white paint/primer will help visibility as well.
Its just going to take a little leg work, if the move my knee up would someone want to hit up the local welding/metal working stores to see what trades ins the have etc. Or work out what they can do on what model. Knowing we have them money to pull the trigger if needed makes negotiating with a company on the phone or in person much easier and hell we might not even come close to that money.