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I have a Miller Thunderbolt AC/DC stick welder. If you're going to buy new, I don't recomend using any stick welder on sheet metal but since this all I have it's what I've learned to use. If you can't afford a wire feed, either because of price or you need bigger amps to weld bigger stuff, then I'd say get a stick welder with DC and you'll be able to weld sheetmetal with some practice.
For 1/8 are larger steel I like either a Miller or Lincoln stick welder. My father had/has a Lincoln and it's what I learned to weld with when I was 13 years old.
A friend offered to sell me his nearly new Miller for only $100, so that was a no brainer. I'm sure they retail for at least twice that, probably more. It has a high and low side AC 30-150Amps and 40-230Amps. The DC is 20-150Amps.
I've learned how to weld sheetmetal with it but you have to be careful. I use a 3/32 6013 rod on DC Reverse Polarity at 45Amps. For some reason DC Reverse Polarity is not as quick to burn a hole like AC current. Also, the 6013 rod doesn't penetrate like a 6011 and lays down more of a surface weld. If you do screw up or if you have a gap it's the easiest one to fill a hole with.
The main trick is don't try to lay down a constant bead or you will burn a hole. Weld about a 1/4-3/8" at a time and then stop briefly to let it cool off. You can still see the glow through your mask and right when it fades out you can start again.
I have even used a 3/32 6011 on sheetmetal using DC 40Amps. As long as you have DC it does OK. It's just about impossible to use it on AC without burning holes. I've not tried the 6013 on AC but if you were very careful it would probably work. It would certainly be preferable to the 6011 if AC is all you had but why bother when you have DC?
On my exhaust, I used a 3/32 6011 on AC at 45Amps on 16 guage aluminized steel. It lays a nice bead, even upside down and never once got close to burning a hole. I tried it on DC but the aluminum in the steel literaly blew the flame off the metal. With the 6011 I was able to lay a constant bead with no problems.
If you need to make high strength welds on thicker steel it's tough to beat a 1/8-5/32" 7018. They are one of the strongest you can make. Just make sure the surface is clean and not rusted. If you don't need super strength then go with a 1/8-5/32" 6011. It's plenty strong for most stuff and will burn through any amount of rust.
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