Maybe one of those flat griddles can be used as a hot plate instead of the blade. Might hold heat better and offer more consistent temps across the board due to thermal mass
Wonder if something like ceramic frying pan from a thrift store would work even better than the saw blade? It would be non-conductive and it would have a handle to make it easier to remove when it is hot.
I assume the saw blade and screws are to reduce the temperature and slow the temperature changes, compared to sitting on the heating element directly. Since the hot plate has a temperature/power dial, I wonder if you could find the right setting, and use a cast iron skillet (maybe upside down?) to slow the temperature changes. In any case, a neat, simple idea!
It seems its an analog system and getting an exact spot would be quite tough. Might need to put a thermocouple and arduino or some kind of power switching relay to get it where you want consistently
I guess it's a vapoor. I think I had this when I tried to restore old dry paste by adding IPA or alcohol into it. I had exactly same issue, the paste was useless.
