Why would I do that? The iron provides temperature feedback via a well understood ptc thermistor in the tip, someone has kindly posted the schematic for the manufacturers analogue controller on another forum, and I would still have to obtain a transformer for the power supply (which I made by rewinding an old one). The only "work" I had to do was figure out the function of the uPC1701 chip which is obsolete, and how to replace it's functionality, and layout a PCB. Not to mention, setting the current (or voltage for that matter, since it's simpler) without feedback will only limit the power available to the iron, not actually keep it at a steady temperature.
Anyways, I can now run the iron with the controller, and going back to the original subject, see how hot the triac gets!