It has been almost 40 years since I’ve done any welding and there have been several times over the years where a welder would have been handy for various projects I was involved in. However, the price was always more than I was willing to pay. In recent years inverter-based technology has brought the price of welders down.
I remember learning how to weld as a kid of maybe 15 in a semester of high-school shop class. I hold the belief that anyone can learn to do basic welding for DIY or homestead projects. Of course, someone that is welding pipes underwater or doing something structural needs to be well trained. But for the rest of us doing household projects learning to weld at that level is well within reach.