Temperature test 1

Dial on 1/5 mark

After 10 mins it's off the scale. I couldn't wait for the digital thermometer to arrive so I got this $6.00 one at the outlet centre :-P

 You can't see it here, but water sprayed onto the steel boils instantly

I'll do some more research on youtube to see what temps people are using. I seem to remember seeing someone having around 170 Celsius and this passed 200.

Stewmac suggested temperaturesl

Setting the temperature The bender's highest temperature is approximately 500°. A good bending temperature is between 350° (°C 176.66667) and 400° (°C 204.44444). A surface thermometer placed on the aluminum iron is the best way to monitor the temperature. A hotter iron steams the wood faster, but also dries it out faster, so it needs to be wetted again. 

I'd suggest now that 400 watts was overkill and could have easily gotten away with 100w

Mold Heating Element Cartridge Heater 12.6" Wire 220V 400W 12mm x 200mm

I re-checked ebay and could find what I was looking for at a lower wattage so beggars can't be choosers I guess.

On to the next thing on the list now