Homebrew PCBs

Apparently I cannot wield a clothes iron very well (my pattern 
usually turns out like swiss cheese), so I'm going to start 
constructing a laminator out of a Laserjet II fuser.  The fuser was 
given to me, but I did not receive the power supply or motor.  So, 
here are a few questions for those who have done the conversion, or 
just know the answers :)

1) Does the fuser element take 110V AC (I'm in the US), or do I need 
a DC power source?  I have some SSRs that are good to 20A, and would 
like to use one to control the temperature. 
2) Since I'm starting to tinker with microcontrollers, I would like 
to hook a PIC ADC port to the thermistor to create a crude 
temperature indication on an LCD and provide feedback for the SSR 
control.  Are laser printer thermistors particularly "noisy" at any 
give temperature?
3) Finally, I think I'll hook a hand crank onto the geartrain.  Is an 
*ultra* smooth feed required, or would I be able to crank it manually 
with acceptable results?

Probably a bit much for a beginner, but I would like to give it a 
shot anyway.  Thanks for any help or pointers you can give.


Billy Byler