The pic of the fill with the stringers was close. A properly executed weave would be sufficient too. you should fill the gap as much as you can and as smooth as u can. Make sure the top edges of the joint are still showing but not touched. I have heard of this last pass before the cap being called the "witness". Hopefully I remembered this and am not using the term wrong. You should learn how to make these passes smooth. But if your practicing, you've come this far, you should practice a perfect cap. so grind the fill smooth. Now with about 1/16th of the edge showing (1/16th witness) evenly and your plate has cooled down so u can touch it with bare hands and your amps bumped down a few, your ready to cap. Start with building a shelf. Moving the rod slowly you will basically be doing small horizontal welds, this is an important stage for eliminating undercut. Make your first horizontal weld with this shelf and pull it over the edge of the virgin edge of the original joint (witness) half a rod width, hold it there until it fills and the puddle catches up to the rid and fills, and a moment later move quickly across the middle up another half a rod width or so. Just paint its way up there. Hope that helps.
