Jan 28, 2017
My passing square butt joint. Set up is a crucial step for butt joints that are not closed square joints. The spacing will drastically affect the outcome. The goal for butt joints is to keep a level upper face without too much or too little filler material, while achieving full penetration on the opposing side, with a slight hump about a 16th of an inch higher than the edge of the metal. If the spacing of the two pieces is too far apart, welding them together without excessive buildup and overheating is difficult. If the gap is too narrow, the top side will look pretty but 100% penetration is difficult to achieve on the opposing side. I spent more time setting these buggers up than actually welding them!
