Hot Plate

[dek16001]

I was looking at buying a hotplate to pre-warm my molds and am a little confused. I see the solid top ,and the coil type. What type should I get?
Thanks,
Dan

[bangerjim]

I have three different solid top ones that serve me VERY well in bring molds right up to casting temp. I use another to pre-heat lead ingots just to the point they start to melt where they contact the heated surface. Really speeds up the cycle time when refilling the casting pots!

Wattage is the critical thing. Get the highest rating you can find. Two of mine are 1KW and the other one is 700W......all totally temp controlled with settable knob on the front.


bangerjim

[blikseme300]

Solid top is what I use. Cheap unit from wally-world for under 20 bucks.

[dek16001]

Thanks for the replies...trying to get all this stuff together
Dan

[JASON4X4]

Some people have found the coil type at thrift stores and stick an old saw blade or scrap pive of steel on top for the flat surface.

[dale2242]

mine is the old coil type .
I cut a piece of 1/4" steel to fit the top.....dale

[alamogunr]

I use a coil type w/quarter inch aluminum plate on top. I had to drill a couple of holes to clear handle screws that stood proud of the bottom of various molds so they would sit flat on the mold.

EDIT: I meant "sit flat on the plate"

[13Echo]

I have a coil type. I folded a piece of sheet steel to hold the mould about .25" above the coils and folded and pop rivited a small box to cover the top of the coils and mould. I did not want part of the mould in contact with redhot coils while the rest was exposed to cooling breezes to produce potentially warping uneven heating. The base plate keeps the base of the mould from overheating and the box holds in the heat and protects the mould from being cooled by exposure to unheated air resulting in much more even preheating of the mould.

Jerry Liles

[dek16001]

I ordered one online for $25/ free shipping. It's a flat top one so it should work pretty well. Thanks again for your replies.
Dan