New scales

[Cookie]

As I now have to replace my scales, any advice? are 1 gram increments good enough do you think?

Up till now I've been rounding down the lye for safety sake but wonder if my new scales need to be more precise?

 

[Seawolfe]

I was lucky enough to get this scale for the holidays: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001NE0FU2/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3JJXTFRC408J0&coliid=I3V03ECBBJOEQS&psc=1
Plus the power adapter sold seperately - you can see it below with the calibration thing.

I adore it, and you can program it to not turn off automatically, which is super handy. And the power adapter means I never run out of batteries in the middle of a session. OH! and it can handle more weight than my old one could - which is great for the larger batches I am doing.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I picked up a 7.5kg limit with 0.1g increments on amazon. Not overly expensive - on the app so can't link to it I'm afraid :-(

 

[cmzaha]

I was lucky enough to get this scale for the holidays: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001NE0FU2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Plus the power adapter sold seperately - you can see it below with the calibration thing.

I adore it, and you can program it to not turn off automatically, which is super handy. And the power adapter means I never run out of batteries in the middle of a session. OH! and it can handle more weight than my old one could - which is great for the larger batches I am doing.

I have been using this same scale for 3 yrs and it is still working wonderfully. Mine does not look pretty and shiny anymore since I do not cover it with plastic but it has help up well against a few small spills

 

[Cookie]

Sold! I just ordered the KD8000 with my overtime money. I really need one that I can program not to turn off because I'm quite slow with measuring my oils etc. I have been finding the auto shut off in my current scales quite tricky. The built in plastic cover seems like a great idea to me and I do a lot of baking so it will be a winner on that front too. Thanks for the advice :wave:

 

[Seawolfe]

Yeah it does baking ratios, which I thought would also help hubby, the baker in the family. You'll be pleased with it I think.

 

[KDsoaps]

Hi Cookie,
I'm a new hobby soaper having made about 6 batches of soap. I've been researching scales. Looked at the KD7000/8000 scale and read all the comments about it at Amazon, but can't find the answer to my question which is, will this scale weigh to 0.01? For example: 4.82 instead of 4.80, 4.85,or 4.90? I want one that doesn't round up to the next 0 or 5 like my present one does, but is more precise. Does this scale do that?

 

[Seawolfe]

The KD 8000 is accurate to 1 gram, which is 0.035274 Ounce.
I find that when using ounces it does increment by 0.03 generally, but not always.

 

[KDsoaps]

Seawolfe, Thanks for the quick reply. Hmm, so is there a scale that doesn't increment by 0.03 or 0.05? I'm just looking a recipe I found and the lye weight is 4.712 and water is 11.06. So are you saying I would still have to round up/down the weight? I guess what I'm saying is, I've been researching soap making longer than I've been soaping and the one thing that stood out to me was carefully weighing the lye etc. I've looked at so many scales on Amazon till I was blue in the face. The scale I'm using is one that was suggested by Becky of Homesteading Becky on YouTube. I find I'm not real comfortable with rounding the numbers for the lye/water measurements. Or, is that what most of you do that are seasoned soapers? I would be so thankful if someone, anyone, could just post a brand that's under $60 or so, so I can just order it and be done with it. TIA

 

[IrishLass]

KDsoaps- I have 2 scales. I have the KD7000 ('last year's model' of the KD8000), which can weigh to 1 gram, but I don't normally use it for amounts that small because I find it can sometimes be 'iffy' at those lower measurements. To weigh my small, 1 - 3 gram or less ingredients, I like to use my super-sensitive $35 Jenning's JSR-200 scale (http://www.lotioncrafter.com/jennings-jsr-200-scale.html), which can weigh tiny amounts of things accurately down to .01 gram. I find it to be indispensable to me for making my really small 8 oz. batches of soap, or small batches of lip balm or lotion. But since it's not good for weighing anything over 7 oz., it's essential that I have the 2 different kinds of scales.


IrishLass

 

[cmzaha]

The adapter is a lot less costly from with reasonable shipping costs oldwillknottscales.com/ac-power-adapter-for-kd-7000.html

 

[Dahila]

I have two; small one for lotions and weighting small amounts http://www.saffireblue.ca/shop/equipment/scales/escali-pr-500s-scale#.VO-iaC685c4
For soap I use http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/i...ital-Glass-Kitchen-Scale/_/N-ntkqx/R-I4156114, it measure to 1/2 g.

 

[Seawolfe]

Seawolfe, Thanks for the quick reply. Hmm, so is there a scale that doesn't increment by 0.03 or 0.05? I'm just looking a recipe I found and the lye weight is 4.712 and water is 11.06. So are you saying I would still have to round up/down the weight? I guess what I'm saying is, I've been researching soap making longer than I've been soaping and the one thing that stood out to me was carefully weighing the lye etc. I've looked at so many scales on Amazon till I was blue in the face. The scale I'm using is one that was suggested by Becky of Homesteading Becky on YouTube. I find I'm not real comfortable with rounding the numbers for the lye/water measurements. Or, is that what most of you do that are seasoned soapers? I would be so thankful if someone, anyone, could just post a brand that's under $60 or so, so I can just order it and be done with it. TIA

In general I round down on the lye and up on the oils - for my own purposes your lye weight of 4.712 I would aim for 4.70 and water of 11.0

Remember that every time you open your lye container its gaining water weight and becoming less strong - someone here actually tracks the weight each time they take some out. To my tiny mind its just never going to be exactly accurate and rounding is just fine. The big caveat is that this is for batches of at least 16 oz - anything under that and I would want the scale that Irish Lass uses.