Pics of the clamps I am using:

I still need to trim off a little bit more to get the left side clamp in place.

I ordered some sanding discs which I need to do the final cleanup of the edges.  Should arrive in the next few days.

Patch panel should be ready to weld.

Should be enough of a gap to clamp and butt-weld.Now I need an extra set of hands to help clamp these in place for a spot check before final preparation of the metal to weld.