Get the pieces lined up straight and clamped in place. Remember the typical MIG guidance about not having a gap larger than the diameter of the wire in your fitup? Throw that out the window. The two little aluminum pieces you see are sheetmetal clamps that don't have enough range to clamp the 1/4" plate, but the clamp tongues make a good gap gauge at around 0.040" or so while I clamp the rest of the plate down to the two 1.25" square bars underneath with four clamps each.

Owner caption March 2006 · Photo 163 of 362