The controller was about $15, it's basically a rheostat in a box afaik so this setup is very very similar to the SSV in stock form. Do a search for "mini phaser" soldering iron temperature controller. No camera right now but I will do my best to describe how I did it.
Parts list: SSV heater cover, Hakko 456, Mini Phaser soldering iron controller, about 4" of 5/8" FDA-grade vinyl tubing, 3 #3 bolts of appropriate length.
Optional parts: the Hakko's power cord is quite stiff, and would interfere with the wand staying put where I left it on the table (if this makes sense), so I replaced it with a very flexy silicone power cord from an old PowerBook AC adapter. Highly recommended!
You'll need a dremel with a cut-off wheel and a grinding wheel as well, so this is def. an added expense if you don't have one already.
How I did it:
Take the cover off the SSV and set aside.
If your Hakko is still assembled (what kind of stoner are you if it is?), unscrew the nut holding the soldering tip to the handle and remove the associated parts so you just have a heating element sticking out of the handle. The knurled nut you just removed attaches onto a steel base plate with 3 bolts connecting it to the handle. Remove these three bolts, and take off the base plate.
Now comes the only hard part: slide the tubing over the heater cover about 3/4" of an inch or so, it should be a very tight fit (that's not the hard part). While holding the base plate with vise grips or something, take the dremel with the cutoff wheel and remove the large threaded protrusion that held the aforementioned knurled nut to the plate. You want to aim for a nice round hole here (ha ha). Now with your grinding wheel, enlarge the hole so the heater cover with the bit of tubing over it fits snugly. This will create a steel on plastic on glass interface, much more forgiving than steel on glass.
Now you should have a heater cover with a few inches of vinyl tubing sticking down and the metal base plate fitted snugly to it. Slide the whole thing over the heating element and guide the tubing into the hollow bit of the handle (this will also act to seal off the bottom of the heating tube and only allow air to enter as designed).
Here's where the longer #3 bolts come into play. Use them to fasten the metal base plate to the handle once again, replacing the original short bolts. The base plate will torque up against the vinyl tubing and in turn against the little glass lip at the base of the heater cover, keeping everything nice and snug.
Very sorry for the lack of pictures for you visual people. If you're truly interested it might make more sense if you reference my original pic.
Anyway, this setup (WITHOUT the bong! There's the rub) would cost about $80 if one didn't already have an SSV, and just bought the heater cover from them. Once again this is assuming you already have the tools.
I don't know if there's a market, but 7th floor could make a way cleaner looking wand than me for sure. That would be so cool. As for those asking why not just connect some tubing, this way feels more "natural" to me, just like hitting a bong. No muss no fuss!
never pay full price (my jewish intuition) i'm really Jewish 
With the price of the controller and soldering iron, I think it will be more than the VRIPwand and it won't have the venturi designed channels or the custom glass piece that encapsulates the heating element so that the vapor path only touches glass.... but there is definitely some pleasure from making something yourself, I can see this being pretty cool with the SSV GonG heater cover. The Mach series is only 10 bucks more than 4500 series, are the heat controllers universal? What are some good heat controllers to get? I don't feel like doing a lot of research on heat controllers so if anyone knows any good tips when purchasing one, any advice would be appreciated
seriously why waste money/time?
but i guess that is a home unit...ive always wanted one but that will come into my life when the money is growing on trees if you catch what im sayen 
all vapor
sorry whats the point in buying a unit and not having a lot of product to run it thru 
ahhh 
