[TheForge] Welding preheat

[Paul N]

I'm about to make my first largish hammer, and I intend to arc-weld a 
"handle" stub onto it. Since I only have hobby-duty welding equipment, 
I thought I'd get another opinion or two before I proceed.

The hammer head will be forged in a coal forge.

Here's what I've got:
Material:
  2.5" dia piece of railroad locomotive spring, about 5" long (around 7#)
  1" dia A-36 for my "handle" (about 6" long so I can grab it with 
reasonably sized pair of tongs)

Choice of welders:
  Lincoln 225 AC/DC ("tombstone")
  Lincoln SP-170T wirefeed (.035 FCAW)


Here's the procedure I'm considering:
I've beveled the end of the 1" piece leaving about 1/4" flat at the bottom.

I was going to use the 225 AC/DC and 6011 rod DCEP to get the best 
penetration

I'm going to preheat both pieces. From what I've read, I should preheat 
the spring to about 300 degrees.

Questions:
Is this likely to produce a weld that's adequate to hold up to the 
hammering? (Manual, striker with a sledge)

Is the preheat temp critical? More specifically, is hotter better?

thanks,
**Paul