Been sicker than a dog, so not much shop time. I did manage to get out there a little this evening and made one of the seat legs. I used a chunk of 1/4in copper as a chill bar when welding the doublers on. This accomplished two things. One, I was able the keep it squeezed in my vise while welding to ensure the doublers remained parallel to each other. The other benefit is the inside surface is smooth and not distorted from the welding process. It came out pretty nice.
One caveat, I do have smooth aluminum jaws on my vise. They are a tremendous conductor of heat so it doesn't cool the welds too quickly and it doesn't make marks on the steel.
