[ayeckley]

We use a hot plate like you might find in a high school chemistry lab. We learned the hard way to cover the surface with aluminum foil to prevent the melted plastic from sticking to it permanently and then coking/charring. Agree with all of the other posts; in our experience we found it easiest to work with when the cord is heated to just below the smoke point of the material, allow for some amount of radial extrusion when the ends are pressed together, and give it a nice long cool-down time or accelerate the process with water. We dress the O.D. afterwards using a Dremel tool and abrasive wheel.