

Wow, a user name that sounds like someone who likes to do mechanical design! Thanks for your offer to help.
Making a test on this oven, just a few minutes ago, in a unmodified oven, no thermocouple, just using the crude theromostat control,a timer and my skilled twisting of the knobs, what i got with just a couple of SMD resistors was that one resistor was tombstoned and the other was perfect.
Ok, not too much research to support my project yet!
I assume that once I add my own coded MCU control with a K-Type thermocouple with a Maxim chip with 5% or better temperature accuracy and if I do the programming for the recommended temperature/timings to fit the reflow graph for the euctectic solder paste I was using, I should expect much better results. I think I bought the wrong type of thermocouple, it is a probe type, where a small terminal hole design or even a screw-in type would have been a better choice. This probe-type was the cheapest online, it has a diam of 1/8-in.
Now I also have to figure out how and where to mount the 9.5-cm long x 1/8-in diam metal probe sticking out of a 4.5-cm plastic handle.
Do I need a fan? I've read that uneven temperatures can cause bad results and even a small makeshift fan would spread the heat.
Here are the specs and attached is a picture of this hotbox.
Capacity: 10 L
Material: Stainless steel
Power: 1000 W
Timer: 60 '
Max temperature: 230ºC
Size: 36 x 25 x 20 cm (exterior)
It has two identical heating elements, one below the solid crumb tray and one at the top.
Coming soon..pictures of the motors.
I haven't bought the all-thread yet, having not finalized my elegant design, but all-thread is allthread, the smallest diam. I can get at the local hardware, likely 3/16 to 1/4-in diam size, 12-in long and likely a medium, but not fine thread pitch.