Not much way around the extra work, but in my case I think it will easily end up being less work in the long run because the patch fitup is so nice.
Assuming a person didn't want to do a lap weld that would show under the car, and wanted a perfect butt weld joint .... the time you would spend trying to cut a perfect patch the conventional way would involve a LOT of time. Test fitting a patch over and over again can be time consuming.
What I like about this method is first ... patch is a perfect shape with only the width of blade as a gap, so easy to weld ... and even no gap if you cut at an angle. Second, cutting and welding it a few inches at a time precludes the need for butt joint clips, the patch stays perfectly aligned as you go.
I can't speak to how it would be on an exterior body panel, I've never done that. But for a complex shape like a floor pan, where cutting a butt joint patch would be a real pain it works great. The small gap might not be ideal for an exterior panel, again I don't have experience enough there to comment.
After I'm done I should be able to hit the bottom side with a sanding disk on a grinder and have virtually no visible seam.
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