You will need a hot plate that can hold a steady temperature. They have some used commercial ones on the big auction site that should do the job for under $100. The one I have is about $400 but it is more than necessary in my opinion.
I preheat the hot plate to 240 with my irons on it. I like to have two of each size on the hot plate. I use one and make my three second weld, set it back on the hot plate and then press the weld with a cold iron to cool and set the weld. Then I grab the #2 of the same size and do another weld. To be honest you could probably do it with just one iron of each size. We have a club program where I help members build your rafts so we are both welding so having some extras work well for a team approach.
These irons lay down a nice weld, much more reliable than the clover tool in my opinion. you can buy the aluminum from Online metals for very little money to make you own irons.
Mike