I know there are a few of you out there interested in DIY soldering iron controllers. I have no time to get into that, but I'm quite aware that my JBC soldering station that just broke may be of interest to someone here, either to repair or build your own PID controller. It heats the tip red hot in about 10 seconds, so I can imagine it must be capable of pouring 500-600 watts into the tip when the controller calls for heat.
Anyway, it is up on ebay now for USA sale if you are interested.