[Porsche_monkey]

As a welding engineer allow me politely disagree with all the above. The key to good welding? a) practice and b) destructive testing.

Until you cut and etch samples and understand penetration (don't go there) you do not know if you can weld or not.

Until you find a helper with X-ray vision you need to go beyond 'looks pretty darn good'.

I consider a 'night out with the boys' at the pole joint as making up for the lack of X-ray vision.