Have you looked at lease returns?
If you are doing structural pieces, you’ll want a heavy duty machine.
If you are thinking about bench work for old gun parts, the quality of the foot pedal matters. Most good machines have tri-range, so you can dial in your heat, dig, and arc force very precisely.
Red D Arc provides us with full featured rental machines. I don’t recall a machine failing. But electricity quality does impact wave form, and performance. So your shop needs a good service connection.
I think you might get a more durable machine with better peripherals following that route.
It doesn’t take many truss plates to pay for a serviceable, much better quality welder.
When you are done with it they are easier to sell.
I like going to the weld shop for stuff. They are usually quite helpful.
