What makes a weld job a quality weld job?

[lx5091]

don't take this as gospel because I don't think my explanation will do it justice, but..

when welding you want to lay down a good strong "bead" right off the bat, and not have to "go over" or redo a section over what you've done. What can happen is you can create weak spots that WILL CRACK under nominal pressure. If you do have to redo over a weld it is best to grind smooth what is there as opposed to "filling in" between sections of a weld you have laid down. I wish I had some pictures of some practice peices I could show you.
You DON'T want blobs over blobs, you DO want a nice consistant, solid bead.