Soldering Iron

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

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.

Inductive

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