hot plate - specific recommendation?

[trixter]

Here is the kind I purchased from bi-mart , elite brand , had one I had previously purchased from a candle making/ soap making outlet , I find that low is all the higher I need to use on its settings

http://www.bimart.com/skudetail.aspx...&nm=Appliances

That is exactly the same thing I got at Fred Meyer, same price too. LOVE IT!!

[Echd]

Paid $10 at Roses.

I need a spare toaster oven for that sort of thing too.

[w0fms]

I use a $18 "Aroma" that I added a PID controller for actually casting from Amazon. (http://www.amazon.com/Aroma-AHP-303-.../dp/B0007QCRNU) It's nice because you can modify the thermostat a little -- if you don't PID it like I did, it is bypassed on mine) to make it warmer (I can run it all day at 900F-- it's safe..) and the coil is in a cast iron casting, so there is a little thermal mass to it. I use a pan to melt the lead and there is still enough room to set down the mold. Not ideal for production like a lot of you guys do, but 400-500 at a time from a 6 cav or 200 at a time for a 2 -- it works well enough for me. It'd be overkill to just heat up a mold...

[David2011]

The cheap ones from Walgreen's will get hotter than you need or want for heating molds. I've been thinking of putting a thin aluminum or steel plate on mine to have a flat surface.

David

[johnh57]

I just threw away an old george forman grill - it would have been fine.

[Raven_Darkcloud]

I got mine at Bi-mart for $14 1000w works great will melt lead on med. No need to ask how I know.

[repawn]

Just picked up an 1100 watt model at Woodman's for 8.99

[jimb.]

FYI - Just continuing my research, along with reading all of your helpful replies (thanks). I've called a few places to ask them how hot, in terms of actual degrees, the operator could get the surface of their product. I got a specific reply from only one place - Waring. They said that their SB30 would get up to 865 degrees.

So, the best ones I've heard of so far, by specific name, are the Waring SB30, and the Elite ESB301F. About the Walgreens product that you guys have mentioned, the store here does not have any in stock, and I've not been able to see anything specific about it in the internet research, but I'm keeping that in mind, because of what you guys have written about it.

Other products that I've looked at are: GE #169215; Deni Tabletop Burner #16310 (quite a few user reviews said that the Deni is junk); Aroma AHP-303 (not much info.on this one); and Brentwood Appliances TS-337 (solid top)& TS-322 (coil element).

I'm looking strongest at the Waring SB30. Even though it's about $50, it seems to be the highest quality, & the best user reviews, and they are the only ones to tell me how hot I can get it (865 degrees sounds plenty).

jimb.

[johnh57]

Picked up a proctor silex 1000 watt single element at ACE for 17.95 and a Lodge 8" cast iron trivet for $10 to use as a flat surface to set the molds on. seems to do fine.

Here is one on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Proctor-Silex-.../dp/B000690WNU

[montana_charlie]

For preheating a mould I like a hotplate that will hold very close to a desired temperature. That is why I chose a laboratory type unit. There are two old-time hotplates that appear on ebay quite regularly, and either of them is an excellent choice, in my view.
One (the one that I bought) is the square, 750 watt, Thermolyne Type 1900 (HP-19xxx), and the other is the round, 325 watt, Thermolyne Type 2300 (HP-23xxx).
If trying to buy one today, I would simply check eBay every day until one comes along at a price that suits me. (Mine cost $25 if I recall correctly, but I bought it six or seven years ago.)

Just so you know what they look like, here are two current listings from eBay.
1900 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/SYBRON-THERM...item2c6debad81

2305B - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Thermolyne-M...item4853f3316e

Here is a real spiffy 1900, WITH a spiffy price - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Thermolyne-M...#ht_711wt_1156
But, it gives you an idea of the kind of 'value' built into the lab-grade hotplates.

When judging the usefulness of a hotplate, don't be swayed by a higher wattage rating.
A mould only needs to reach 500 degrees at the highest, so even a 325 watt unit will get you there ... if you don't mind that it takes a bit longer.

And, finally, you don't NEED to even buy a hotplate.
I just browsed through seven pages of lab-grade plates currently listed on eBay.
The prices on (most of) the Thermolyne plates are pretty far up there.
So, I am posting information about creating a hotplate out of some other kind of electric appliance ... for instance:

I cut the sidewall off of an old deep fat fryer, leaving a small 'rim' of about an eighth of an inch, and the plug-in heat control keeps it at a very stable temperature.
The thing is eight inches in diameter, but (as you can tell by looking at the bottom) it could be reduced to about six inches without any problem.

The rectangular heater part of those 'slow cookers' should also get hot enough to preheat a mould.

New hotplates come in boxes. Think outside the box.

CM