aluminum preheating

by Tom
(Ontario Canada)

Hi Jody
I welded my first aluminum casting yesterday. I have been welding thinner aluminum, but the casting took a long time to get warm enough
I have heard of guys preheating with a torch, but am afraid of overheating anything heat treated, fearful of damaging it
How do you heat the work properly, or should I just go out and find an old oven for my garage?? How hot ??

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A cheap infrared heat sensor from northern tool or even cheaper temp stick will let you know the preheat temp.

to preserve temper, use only about 200F preheat.

if you use an oven, just set it to 200f

you could even use an old gas grill with a thermometer