Which scale to buy?

[rparrny]

So my trusty digital scale that has served me well for nearly a decade is now measuring my grams by 5s and its' time for a new one.
I've scoured the internet and you can find a ton of them from under $20 to obscene amounts of money.
I need a reliable scale that will measure by each gram and not in increments of 5...I'm willing to invest in more than twenty bucks but I don't want to sell my first born either. I don't sell, just friends and family but that being said my soap making is like knitting for some people...it relaxes me and calms me down so I make a fair amount and regularly.
Any suggestions for a good scale for me...I'm exhausted checking out all the options and I don't see a lot of difference other than the price.
__________________

 

[IrishLass]

I highly recommend the KD 7000 or the KD 8000. I myself have the KD 7000 and it is awesome. I've had it for about 4 years or so now. I use it for soap and for cooking/baking...and also for weighing mail. If you buy one, get the adapter (I think it's sold separately).


IrishLass

 

[snappyllama]

I got the KD 8000 on recommendation of folks here and love it!

 

[OliveOil2]

KD8000 or the KD7000 Amazon has them for a pretty good price, or Old Will Knox scales. I also purchased the electrical adaptor, and shut off the auto turn off button. Love my scale. Easy to use, and very reliable.

 

[Seawolfe]

+1 on the KD7000 or 8000 - I have the 8000 which can weigh up to 8 kilos instead of 7, and does backers math (percentages of flour). Its a good solid, reliable, easy to use scale.
Make sure you buy the AC adapter, then shut off the auto-off and you'll never have a scale fail in the middle of a soaping session

 

[shunt2011]

I too have the KD8000. I got it from Amazon and ordered the adaptor as well. It's an awesome scale.

 

[rparrny]

Well, it seems there is only really one scale to buy! Thank you for all the recommendations. Today is my birthday, I was given the day off and a nice little bonus as well... So today I will spend the day making some soap with the new black glitter mica I've been dying to try. Heading to Michaels to get some letter stamps which I plan to use with the gold glitter mica to stamp in initials on the black portion of my black and white soap that will be gifts for all my favorite men come holiday time. There is enough to get the scale from amazon and Michael's is having a sale on rolling storage units...the craft room is getting outta control.
Every friday night I spend with my favorite little man...my 2 1/2 year old grandson Zach. My daughter brings him Fridays and picks him up Saturday night...every week since birth (the first month she stayed with him). The weather is beautiful here, I have so many tomatoes I think I will slice some up for the dehydrator for tomato powder...
Ahh...life is good!

 

[rparrny]

Sorry, I just had to post this pic of Zach...future soap maker!

 

[Seawolfe]

Oh what a little cutie!!

 

[shunt2011]

What a little cutie pie!

 

[not_ally]

He is absolutely adorable.

 

[kumudini]

Aw! What a cutie pie. And you get to hang out with him on your birthday? Could it get anymore awesome? Happy Birthday .

 

[rparrny]

Yes he is a doll, thank you...
And as cute as he is...that child is just so happy...all the time. His favorite thing to do is dance, and for a 2 year old some of his moves would put Elvis to shame...first he will dance for you but not for long, cause he will pull you out of your chair and insist that you dance with him...it melts my heart.
So we spend our time together dancing and laughing...
I am truly blessed.

 

[commoncenz]

Adorable!

* I have a question about the scales though. If the KD 7000 and KD 8000 only measure to the gram, what do you use to get to the tenth and hundredth of a gram? This is the one thing that has kept me from switching to grams for my recipes. Seems like it would be a pain to have to use two scales.

 

[shunt2011]

I never felt the need to measure to the 10th or 100th of a gram. I just round up on oils and down on lye. I happy with using grams. However, I do have a small jewelers scale that I use for lip balms, and tiny amounts.

 

[kchaystack]

Adorable!

* I have a question about the scales though. If the KD 7000 and KD 8000 only measure to the gram, what do you use to get to the tenth and hundredth of a gram? This is the one thing that has kept me from switching to grams for my recipes. Seems like it would be a pain to have to use two scales.

I use this one:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SVNEWA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

but more often than not - I round up to the nearest gram anyway. But it is night to have for lotions - that I do in smaller volume.

 

[rparrny]

Yeah I'll ditto that, I round up or down.

 

[IrishLass]

* I have a question about the scales though. If the KD 7000 and KD 8000 only measure to the gram, what do you use to get to the tenth and hundredth of a gram? This is the one thing that has kept me from switching to grams for my recipes. Seems like it would be a pain to have to use two scales.

Speaking as someone who has 2 scales, it's actually really not much of a pain as one would think, although I do confess it would be great if I could find a reasonably priced scale that measured as high as 7000 grams/15lbs like my KD7000, and as low as .01g/.0005oz like my Jennings JSR-200, but such a scale would be more of a pain to me than having 2 scales....or rather more of a pain to my wallet, that is. lol

I use my KD7000 for all my normal soapy needs, and I used the other for when I'm making small batches of lotions or lip balms, or very small experimental batches of soap. I 've never needed to use both at the same time for when I'm making my normal-size batches of soap. I've only ever needed to use one or the other.

PS to rparrny: your little guy is absolutely adorable!


IrishLass

 

[not_ally]

And as cute as he is...that child is just so happy...all the time. His favorite thing to do is dance, and for a 2 year old some of his moves would put Elvis to shame...first he will dance for you but not for long, cause he will pull you out of your chair and insist that you dance with him...it melts my heart.
So we spend our time together dancing and laughing...
I am truly blessed.

Your description of how happy/dancy he is makes *me* happy. What a little love. You really are blessed.

 

[Soapsense]

I to use the Jennings JSR-200 for lip balm and small lotion batches on recommendations from here, I love it. And like Irishlass I use a larger scale for soap etc. Never have them out at the same time either.