: Definitely this is a good idea. My first information on strip
: building suggested that butt joints could be created at any
: point between the forms. The author suggested using two staple
: guns. One with long staples for holding the strips to the forms,
: and the other with 1/4" staples to hold strips to adjacent
: strips.

: The idea was to use one or two shorter staples to hold the ends of
: the strips together, or to adjacent strips, at butt joints.

: That was a bad idea.

: I ended up painfully stapling through the strips and into the tip
: of my finger as I held the strips close enough to be stapled.
: Please don't let anyone repeat my mistake.

: PGJ

My experience with butt joints has been somewhat different. I tried locating them on station forms, but did not like the results. Now, all my butt joints are off the station forms. That way I can get my fingers on them to ensure that they are properly aligned, and sometimes clamps on them to keep them that way. Many will stay put with just the normal inner tube clamping I use, others will behave with just a spring clamp angled across the joint. If a rare joint gets resistant, I just use a small c clamp and scrap strip pieces to hold it in alignment until the glue firms up. If you want to be careful, put a scrap of plastic bag under the strip pieces to prevent bonding. Hot gluing a scrap piece across the inside of the joint would also work, although I have not tried it myself.

Any of these techniques will be helped by pressing the butt joint together firmly while clamping the longitudinal strip joint together. Some of the pressure in the butt joint is retained by the overall strip clamping, and will help hold the joint in place. Also, keep your butt joints away from locations with significant twist.

In any case, there is no need for staples across butt joints, and there are significant advantages to keeping them off station forms.