I was really happy when it got to this point. The only bad part was the hours and hours of welding ahead of me. Lol



Just so you guys know I am a machinist/welder for Kraft Foods, so sanitary pipe welding is part of my job. When pipe fitting you have perfectly smooth and square cuts ends that fit awesome. So really all you have to do is purge the pipe with argon and do a burn through fuse weld. It takes a little practice to get your power settings and speed down so that you burn through completely and evenly. A little too hot and your weld will sag, which isn't sanitary (or worse yet blow a hole). A little too cold and you won't burn all the way through, which isn't sanitary or strong.

Welding this pipe up wasn't as easy. My pieces fit decently, but not good enough to do a straight fuse weld. I had to rod fill these welds because I had plenty of gaps. Gap filling welds on thin sheet metal are a PITA. But all in all it turned out ok.