Well, I am a little late to the conversation. I have several welders and am going to add a TIG welder to the fleet soon. First of all there are 2 main brands out there. Hobart was bought by Miller a while back and Lincoln is the other one. I own machines from both. For the intended use as per your post Leo I would suggest a wire machine. Either miller or Lincoln would serve you pretty well. I actually taught and ran a MIG process certification program for General Motors. I would be glad to teach anyone to weld given time constraints and location.
A few points:
A 110 volt unit will weld 3/16 to 1/4 " steel in one pass. Technique is very important. You can weld thicker steel by using multiple passes, but there are some limits. It shines welding thin steel. Some of the larger machines cannot be turned down far enough to weld thin stock so keep this in mind.
I have a Miller 200 Mig and I can weld thin stock very well with it, even better than any of the 110 volt machines. I do change out the wire size to .023 wire when welding thin stock. Normally I use .035 wire.
A 110 or 220 volt machine will weld cleaner welds with shielding gas. Flux core is necessary when welding outside when there is any wind. It does leave more weld spatter. So if you don't want weld spatter go with gas and weld inside.
It is difficult for most people to weld thin stock with a stick machine. Stick machines are great when you need to weld different kinds of steel. (like hard surfacing a backhoe bucket) You can match the stick and set the proper polarity to weld various types of steel.
Stick machines are great for farm welding when the steel is dirty. Wire machines need very clean steel to get a good weld.
Harbor freight does sell a steel cutting Skil type saw which is great for cutting sheet stock very cleanly. Just wear lots of PPE, including a face shield. I have cut 2-4' across 1/4" plate with this saw and it leaves a ready to weld edge. You just use light pressure and let the saw teeth do their work. A friend of mine has cut 1/2" plate with this saw.
Any other questions I would be glad to answer.
Lots of good candidates, both purebred and not. (I prefer mutts, myself. Generally fewer issues from inbreeding and genetic tomfoolery.)