A profession that doesn't require a degree sounds like an ideal career path but usually, these type of professions require a lot of hard work. While this might be the case with welding, it is however not as demanding of a fabrication process as some others. This means you will have an easier time getting the grips of it as a beginner. Welders are also in high demand which means you will get better pay and more opportunities even as a beginner welder.

There are also various welding processes and techniques you can choose to focus on which give you the option to go for the easiest welding technique and then build your way up. One of these techniques is butt welding. This way of welding joints has the two metal pieces next to each other in the same plane with one continuous weld being placed along the centerline.

Butt Welding Clamps

What Are They?

Just like you need clamps to hold large workpieces together or when gluing woodwork, you need welding butt clamps when making butt welding joints. With butt welding clamps you can keep the two metal pieces you want to weld into one. Also known as panel clamps, welding butt clamps are useful in the repair and alteration of workpieces.

How to Use Them

1. A welding butt panel clamp looks simple and it's simple to use. To align the two workpieces you want to weld you need to first loosen the wing nut on the panel clamp so the sheet metal slides in between the clamp's toggle bar and block.2. With the metal workpieces in place, tighten the wing nut to secure them and that's it. Just remember to use multiple butt welding clamps in order to keep the workpieces in place.

Butt Welding Joints

Bevel

A bevel butt welding joint is one where either one of the metal pieces needs to be bevelled to a certain angle. The other metal has its edge remain square. This way the angle of the bevel depends on how thick the metal is and the needed bead width. In some cases, a root opening is required in order to improve the penetration of the squared piece.

Square

Talking about square metal pieces there is also a square butt weld joint. These butt weld joints are the simplest as they can either have a root opening or a tight fit between the two metal pieces. The edges of a square butt weld joint are not bevelled or chamfered which is what makes this type of butt joint so simple. Keep in mind that you'll need to align the base metal in the same plane if you go for a tight fit. Otherwise, the gap of a root opening needs to be consistent throughout the length of the joint.

Grooved 

When you need your joint to be strong you should rely on a grooved butt weld joint. This type of joint is able to work with metal pieces thicker than 5mm. Grooving the metal workpieces means more space for more filler to be used and thus the bond between the two workpieces is more durable. Remember the groove needs to be of adequate width, otherwise, the filler won't penetrate deep enough.

V

Making a V butt weld is common on metal pieces that are anywhere from 6 mm to 2 cm thick. The bevelled angle of this joint sits at around 60° and 75°. The former is used for plate and the latter for pipe welding. Although a V butt weld is stronger than a square one, it shouldn't be used for structures that are going to be bent at the roof of the weld.

Double V

The main use of double V butt welds is with workpieces thicker than 2 cm. A double V joint has a longer preparation process than a single V butt joint but the former uses less filler. Although a double V butt weld joint has two grooves, they are narrower and thus require less filler to be used.

J

A J butt weld joint is the easiest to weld when it comes to horizontal welding with the perpendicular edge of the workpieces on the lower surface. Other than that J butt welds are quite difficult to create and weld. They are also not as economical as other types of butt weld joints unless the savings you get from the filler are to exceed the machining costs.

Double J

A double J butt weld comes with double the difficulty and use of filler than a single J butt weld. Although the bond is more flexible it is a less desirable one when it comes to beginner welders since it requires a skilful pair of hands to make it.

U

A butt weld joint that is similar to a V butt weld is the U groove butt weld joint. The opening that is needed between the two metal pieces when it comes to a U-shaped butt joint needs concave edges in order for it to work. This requires a lot of skill and also the right equipment.

Double U

As you can already imagine a double U butt weld joint is even more difficult than a single U butt weld joint. You may need to use the same equipment as a single U butt weld joint but not the same skill level.

Flash

A flash butt weld is made with proper machinery and used to connect multiple metal pieces together. This oftentimes is more than 2. Flash butt welding requires a high voltage current to be applied to the metal workpieces in order for all of them to be combined into one larger piece. This is done to prevent the metal pieces from breaking during the welding process. This way you are able to weld together metal pieces that are of different sizes and shapes.

Resistance

The resistance butt welding process uses heat in order to join 2 metal workpieces. The reason why it got this name is the fact that the heat is generated from the pressure that is put onto the workpieces which are held together at a preset force. You cannot use metal pieces of different shapes and sizes with this butt welding process.