ss 304 welding dc current

You usually don't want the gap between the plates to be any bigger than your filler material thickness. It also depends upon the application. I know that food service applications require certain prep procedures applied prior to welding. You are probably looking at running anywhere from 2 to 5 passes to cap out on 5 mm plate so you will need to watch heat input carefully to keep from damaging the base metal. Not sure hot you will want to weld at, it differs from person to person depending on what they like to do.