Weld Metal & Consumables
A joint's filler is its cross-section times its length. Deposition efficiency — the metal that ends up in the joint over the filler consumed — is what separates that from what you buy: stub ends, spatter and slag.
A fillet's cross-section goes as the square of its leg, so an extra millimetre "to be safe" is never a small change, and on thick plate a double-V bevel roughly halves the metal of a single-V.
Joint
Process and cost
Joint cross-section
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Weld metal volume
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Deposited metal
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Filler to buy
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Arc time
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Filler cost
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Geometry only, at nominal fit-up. Real gaps open up, extra cap and backgouge passes add metal, and multi-pass arc time counts every pass, so treat these as the floor of a consumable estimate. Deposition efficiencies are typical figures for steel consumables. A helper, not a substitute for engineering judgment.