When I was in high school, I loved working in the metal shop. I was really good with OA, but barely passable with stick. Fifteen or so years later, a guy I worked with mentioned that he was signing up at the local junior college for an arc welding class, and persuaded me to join up. I liked it, and was actually pretty good. Bought a Lincoln AC/DC tombstone, and started building custom gate frames to replace the wooden ones that home builders installed in my area - starting with my own. The wife thought I was crazy, until she saw our three boys swinging on the new gate, no sag, no drag. I was pulling the 4x4 posts out of the concrete footings and replacing them with 3.5 square .120 tubing, and welding the hinges in. Once I had done mine, family/friends/neighbors wanted some. It quickly evolved into a second income. I was having to rent an engine driven welder to install, so I bought a Hobart Handler 135 Mig and used a 5kw generator, and also drilled and tapped the hinges and posts for stainless bolts to give a finished look. Jobs continued to pour in, with most jobs generating 3 or more inquiries. The jobs were also growing in size, weight, cost, and profit, so I stepped up to a Bobcat 250 and a MM210, both bought from the profits.
I became a teacher, and lost the free time to do a lot of extra work. I cut back to just doing projects for family and my own wants and needs. Loaned the Handler135 to my oldest son, who is still doing home projects with it ten years later. FIL gifted me his Lincoln 175, and the MM210 still runs great. The Bobcat 250 gets a bit of field use, and powers the house during the rolling blackouts we've had in California. Bought a Cut50 plasma cutter several years ago, and recently bought myself an import 225A AC/DC Tig/stick inverter, just to play with some welding on automotive projects and aluminum.
I now weld for enjoyment only. All my equipment has paid for itself, and the satisfaction of remaking something better than it ever was is high. Every once in a while, I get to help out a friend or neighbor, and it sure cuts downtime when you can weld up a repair yourself. I usually add some modification to make it better, as well.
