Soldering Iron

For reference, solder melts around 370F.

Use a Weller RT iron base (or HAKKO 907).

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Soldering-Station-1/

There are quite a few projects that will buy a cheap iron and put a thermal coupler inside the iron to sense the temperature. They seem to work decently well.

• Weller ~25$
• Hakko $7
• Cheap Iron
  • iron $5.35
  • thermal coupler $1
• TS100 tip ~$10

Building an Element

Nichrome wire is cheap (I already have some).

The core of the iron is copper surrounded by steel or aluminum to make it rigid.

There needs to be insulation between the copper core and the nichrome. This needs to withstand 315°C and be electrically insulative. Higher thermal conductivity is better. It would also be good to find a second insulator to wrap around the outside. Kapton and Fiberglass seem like good option.

Inductive

Would inductive heating be feasible? Would it produce too much electrical noise?

They exist, so it should be possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v5Hg2zfLjs

So the heating element would need to be iron. Maybe an iron core inside copper?