Some questions about thermocouple (1 reply)

Hi, I'm building a reprap printer. I just got my extruder from hong kong. There is a K type thermocouple connected to the extruder. But I havent seen this kind of sensor before. I searched about this sensor and I saw people putting one of thermocouple wires in ice water glass to have a reference.

I really didnt understand what should I do to use this sensor. I guess I should buy a max6675 chip also. And I dont have any reprap electronics I use some basic stepper controllers connected to my arduino.

Can anyone explain me if I will buy max6675 chip, will I be able to read digital temp info directly from this chip?

What is this ice water thing? (actually cold junction thing)

I feel like an idiot friends, please make me understand this basic things :)

Thanks!