Interesting idea, I never thought of that approach. Have you done this and
did it work?? How well compared to a commercial unit like the American
Beauty??

You might try a soldering gun --without the tip. My (old) Weller
D-550 delivers 240 or 325 watts at 1.5 volts. That's 160 and 216 amps
-- if the load resistance is low enough to accept it. There's one
;ike it on EBay right now: