DIY Variable temperature soldering iron?

[Hal]

Has anyone ever tried hooking up a standard, semi-high heat iron to a simple light dimmer?  It seems like it would work - kick up the heat for jacks and stuff, and knock it down for smaller work.  Obviously, crude, but better than swithing irons, or using too low heat for something big (like I do).

[Chris Goodson]

I mounted an outlet and a light dimmer in a wall outlet box with a three prong cord.  It hasn't gave me any problems yet.  I also use it with my dremel tool.  I think you can also use a switch to add in a diode on one side of the AC to cut the temperature down.

[niftydog]

better off using a fan speed controller, these are designed for inductive loads.  A light dimmer may be damaged by the inductive kick of the transformer when you turn it off.