Welding spacer

A method of joining a pipe and a fitting, said pipe having an outer surface and an end face, and said fitting having an end face surrounding a shoulder recessed therein, comprising:

• (a) inserting a spacer of predetermined thickness and formed of a synthetic resin in said fitting adjacent the recessed shoulder;
• (b) inserting the end face of said pipe in said fitting with the end face of said pipe and the shoulder of said fitting mutually contacting the spacer so that the end face of said pipe and the shoulder of said fitting are spaced apart by a distance at least equal to the predetermined thickness of the spacer;
• and
• (c) welding said pipe to said fitting with the end face of said pipe spaced from the shoulder of said fitting by said distance at least equal to the predetermined thickness of said spacer, and heating said pipe and said fitting at the juncture between the end face of said fitting and the outer surface of said pipe sufficiently to weld said pipe to said fitting and to vaporize said spacer thus leaving a gap between the end face of said pipe and the shoulder of said fitting.

A fitting for use in welding to one end of a pipe having an outer surface and a pipe end face, said fitting comprising:

• a body of weldable material having a fitting end face;
• a passage in said body, said passage including a recess having an inner surface generally conforming to the outer surface of said pipe and communicating with said fitting end face, a shoulder extending inwardly from said inner surface toward the center of said passage, and a second inner surface communicating with said inwardly extending shoulder;
• and
• a spacer disposed within the recess adjacent said shoulder in said body, said spacer having a predetermined thickness and being constructed of a synthetic resin material which will vaporize when subjected to the heat applied to said fitting and said pipe when welding said fitting to said pipe.