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An esoteric lesson from our journey of making things.
Welding is a messy process. It introduces variability you can't see and can't inspect. Turn it, forge it, mill it, or even bolt it. Any of those is preferable, if only because the material won't distort, contort, or move in ways you didn't plan for.
That's doubly true of stainless. It expands more and conducts heat worse than mild steel, so heat piles up locally and the part moves.
So we do our bit. We groove the surfaces so they flush-fit against the member they're joining. Both our dip stand and the row/pulldown units being built right now use these joints.
The benefit isn't just more weld. A longer weld path, and a joint where load transfers through metal-on-metal contact rather than resting entirely on the bead. Less filler for the same joint means less heat in, which means less movement.
No welder asked us to do this. Left alone, they'll cut, butt, and join. It isn't novel either. Far from it. It's something we've only started doing lately as we push on the aesthetics and reliability of our equipment, which so far has held up (one J-cup weld and a couple of tack welds aside).
A small step toward equipment that lasts, as it gets used by more people, more often, under heavier loads.