The best scale?

[TheQueen]

I've just begun making soap again after many many years and do not like the scale I have as it doesn't weigh in small enough increments. It works perfectly well for non-soap products, but not good enough for soap.

I need a recommendation for a good scale that weighs to at least .01 gram increments. Any suggestions?

[topofmurrayhill]

How much do you want to be able to weigh total?

If you want a resolution of .01g then you may need two scales. Scales that weigh very accurately usually have a lower total weight capacity. A combination of high resolution and high capacity gets very expensive and is only available up to a point.

If you give me a better idea of what you want to be able to do, I can suggest an approach and some models to consider.

[CareBear]

Really unless you are making 1# or smaller batches, for soaps 1 gram increments are probably good enough - though I'm happiest with 0.1 to 0.5 gram.

For very accurate, as Top says, you will have limited capacity which is a pain when soaping a batch of "normal" size.

The one Tara posted is perfect for soaping: http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66584

[TheQueen]

I will only be making no more than 4lb batches, but want to be sure my water/lye weights are as accurate as possible.

Am I overthinking this??

[Faye_SC]

Whatever one you get, make sure it has an adapter to plug in,

because it will shut off on you in the middle of weighing something,

and that is a pain. You can buy one that won't do that.

Just read through the description very closely.

[topofmurrayhill]

Carebear is right. I'll try to put it in perspective so you won't worry overly much about weighing precision.

First off, weighing water accurately is the least important thing. It won't affect anything as long as you're reasonably close.

Weighing oils accurately is good, but you're superfatting by several percent. You'd have to be off by 5 grams just to change that by half a percent, so 0.5g resolution is plenty for oils. Getting it to 0.1g for that size batch is possible but would require over $200 for a good quality scale.

Weighing lye is important and your scale must be accurate within its capabilities, but extra resolution doesn't help as much as you'd think. I have a scale that can weigh .001g but I'd never use it for lye. Even at 0.1g resolution you'll see the weight of the lye increase by several tenths of a gram right before your eyes as it absorbs moisture from the air. It really encourages you to put the lid back on the container quickly and tightly. But of course the lye in the container also absorbs moisture and reacts with CO2 over time.

Then of course you may have to fight static or humidity to get all those lye crystals into the water, then pour the solution into the oils. It's all going to be way more approximate than hundredths of a gram in the end, but it works fine anyway.

[TheQueen]

I knew I'd get good answers and advice here! Thanks so much for all this knowledge. I'll just take a chill pill on the scale issue and use the one I have which is perfectly fine.