I mentioned that I wanted to run it from a 24V supply. This was not some arbitrary number but dictated by my bench supply which is an old 24V, HP 6285A. I also mentioned I could get almost 120 Watts with the heater I selected but that I would not use it, except when I wanted to heat the tip up from cold quickly.
Now that the insulation can handle some fairly high temperatures, I tried to tune the startup. It still needs a little work but this is about a 20 second ramp to reach 650F. It's quicker than my old Pace.
You can see, like any project, there is a bit to consider. I doubt I will do anything more with it but again, if you decide to roll your own, I am interested in seeing what you come up with.