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Just realized I was wasting time with my edge banding iron
I spent like 6 months using a cheap iron from a thrift store and wondering why my glue joints kept failing. Then a guy at a supply shop in Portland told me to check the actual temp with a laser thermometer, turns out it was running 40 degrees too cold. Anyone else ever tested their gear and found something way off?
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gracethomas2mo ago
A laser thermometer might not read shiny iron surfaces accurately though.
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david_reed222mo ago
Respectfully I think you're overthinking this. Most cheap laser thermometers can handle shiny surfaces okay if you just stick a piece of masking tape on the iron. That gives it a matte spot to read. I've done this with my cast iron pans and griddles for years and never had an issue. Plus you're usually just looking for a ballpark temp anyway, not lab precision. If the tape trick bothers you, just point it at the dullest part of the pan. It works fine.
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stella_scott962mo ago
Brought this up with my buddy Mike last week actually. He was trying to temp his cast iron skillet and it kept giving him wild readings like 400 degrees when it was barely smoking. He put a little square of blue painters tape on it and bam, it read 320 which was way more believable. I get what @gracethomas is saying about shiny surfaces being tricky, but the tape thing really does seem to solve it in practice.
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