Siwash,
A ton of wisdom in the prior comments!
Throw a dart at that list of welders and you wonโt miss. I have a 40 year old Lincoln Buzz box (220 arc welder) for heavy stuff like used oilfield pipe and a cheap wire feed for light stuff (gate latches, horseshoe hooks, etc) only uses flux core wire with no bottles to fill but an uglier weld and (splatter) to clean up with a grinder. This will be the gift that keeps on giving! Lots of accessories to buy but agree, donโt skimp on the helmet. A cart that can be wheeled in and out of the garage / shop is super helpful too.
It is a great hobby and before you know it you can put in an order for a new coffee table!
Let me know if Dad needs some horseshoes and is willing to make the drive to North,North Phx, I will give him some.
I PAY $25 a piece for them installed, so if I give him enough maybe I can make it up on volume.....
Take care