The Daedalus

[Carl2]

I just received the Daedalus for coil making, it puts on the outer winding on Clapton SS coils. I've been making coils for RBAs for quite some time with a reasonable amount of success but this with nickel wire. My attempts with making SS coils for vaporizers has been very good and I always switched back to nickel coils. I within the past few months began using the smok TFV8 Big Baby Beast with the RBA deck which is great for flavor and vapor. Since it uses SS Clapton coils it renewed my interest in making SS Clapton coils.
So I have been attempting to use the Daedalus which seems pretty simple according to the videos I've watched. So now we are talking about the real world, my first problem was the kitchen table is not smooth enough and the platform will not slide across the table as required.
I tried a small section of counter top and again it is not smooth enough, I even sanded the bottom portion of the platform with no luck. I ended up putting a few 3 inch sections of a small diameter tubing which solved the friction problem. My next try and I was able to get about 2 or so inches of coil with the outer winding then the wire broke. The 250 foot spool of 32 gauge had a loop that caught and caused the wire to break. After removing about 10 ft of wire the spool seems good and I can use it again. Another try and I have a little over 4 inches of usable coil then there is an over lapping double winding so I take a break and write about my experience. Maybe someone can offer some useful information or maybe this will be ignored.

 

[Eskie]

Are you using it with the drill it came with, or did you just buy the spinner thingy to use with your own drill?

Thing looks great on YT videos.

 

[Carl2]

Minimum speed on my drill is to fast so I bought the whole thing plus I heard the motor and spinner thing are the same height so that doesn't have to be aligned. I sanded roughed and polished the counter top and it's still to rough so I used the rollers again. Final try I was able to get 12 inches with the outer layer, not perfect but pretty good. I still have to measure the final resistance before the turns attempt.
I'd like to put some wheels on the spinner. I also ran into a feed problem from the spool again near the end, it was pulling the wire from under a few windings on top of it. Maybe rewind it on another spool or at least take out 10 ft or so and rewind it.

 

[Don29palms]

I use my daedalus all the time. I use 36g ss wire to wrap with. I put 4 paper clips on the sled to cut down the friction. I straighten the wire first then wrap it. I always wrap in the clockwise direction. I spin up fused claptons at top speed on the drill motor. If the wrap wire is not spooled properly it will cause problems. I usually make 26gx2/36g fused claptons or 24g/36g claptons. I don't use the spinners on the free end. I just stabilize the free end with my hand. I make mine right on the kitchen table.

 

[Carl2]

The resistance for the 12 inch length of wire is to high so it is useless but it did show me it can be done. I'll move to 26gx2/32g fused Claptons for the next build. I was able to get the wheels put on the spool sled although paper clips sound good also. I had gone fairly slow on the core winding because of a break in the 32 gauge wire that happened earlier, a few more attempts and I should be able to speed it up. I am actually trying to duplicate the 2 .80 ohm coils in the Smok TFV8 tank for use in a second tank.
Thinking of the spinners that may be helpful, the wire being wrapped does not move and it may help in wrapping the outer core it seems easy enough to give it a try. Thanks for the input, it is appreciated.

 

[Carl2]

I did make the 2x26 wire with the 32 gauge outer wire, it is lower resistance as expected, I still have to do the turns and see what the resistance is. I still like the multi 32 gauge wire which I could add or subtract a wire to close in on the desired resistance, not about the best way to go about this but using a spinner should help. The last 26 gauge build had some double layers near the center but that could be removed for 2 6inch wires. Pretty easy to speed up the motor for a faster wind. Maybe making 2 7 inch winds would make winding Multi core wires easier to wind.

 

[Carl2]

I have a set of coils I made in the TFV8 Smok tank and it works great, same resistance as the coil in the other tank so I can just change tanks without having to remember numbers. Next I want to try winding multiple 32 gauge wires instead of using larger wires, maybe the smaller gauge acts as a wick, not sure about that, I'll try using a swivel to keep a little tension on the wire. I'm smoking Turkish tobacco with brown sugar added.
It seems quite a few people have made their own version of the Daedulas, If it works great.

 

[Carl2]

I was able to try the multicore 32 gauge SS wire with a Clapton 32 gauge outer core with a spring loaded swivel to hold the other end of the wire, you are unable to wind the whole length since the other end is connected to the swivel so you loose a little wire that can not be wrapped. About 4 inches of wire gives me 8 turns on a 3.0 mm rod and this is .83 ohms close to what I want. I really like the swivel and will probably continue using it. I wonder if the 32 gauge can be straitened instead of twisted together. Well next is to build another set of coils and try them out. I'll have to get a few spools of wire that I'm missing.
Carl2

 

[Don29palms]

When it gets to the end just cut the wires loose from the swivel and continue to the end. When you twist up the wire it straightens it at the same time. My coils usually come out between .13ohm and .25ohm. I only use regulated mods so I don't worry about it too much. The coils I use the most come out to .17ohm.

 

[Carl2]

I had a tube I ran from the inlet to the outlet which I'll probably put back in and cut the end as you said. I just ordered a few more spools of SS wire. I have a Pico 25 which a uses .20 ohm SS coil. so I need 2 .40 ohm coils.
If the ohms in the Pico isn't within range I think it goes into wattage mode. I had to go to you tube to learn about setting the preheat, I didn't see it in the manual.

 

[Carl2]

I straightened out 5 32 gauge wires 12 inch in length, had some tubing running through the platform inlet to the outlet, swivels with a spring load. Worked very well but at higher speeds it wanted to put spacing so I kept it pretty slow. Came out very good. I'm not happy with the enclosed swivels so they were replaced with fishing swivels.
I need a quick way to measure the wire and the 510 connector is made for the screw in tank, 2 brass posts to connect to should be quick and easy.

 

[Don29palms]

I never use the swivels. I haven't needed to.

 

[Eskie]

I never use the swivels. I haven't needed to.

I really need to look into getting one of those. I can do a Clapton by hand (although don't enjoy it) without a swivel by straightening the wire first, but assuming I'm clumsy, can you actually do a fused Clapton without swivels?

 

[Don29palms]

I really need to look into getting one of those. I can do a Clapton by hand (although don't enjoy it) without a swivel by straightening the wire first, but assuming I'm clumsy, can you actually do a fused Clapton without swivels?

Absolutely. I've never used swivels. The Avidartisan Daedalus makes hand free claptons. Set it and forget it. No swivels required.

 

[Don29palms]

 

[Don29palms]

Hey Eskie check this out!
I know I know it's Rip Tripper but this video will show you how really easy it is. I use mine for making all kinds of claptons.

 

[Carl2]

I'm using the swivels because I had to straighten out 5 strands of 32 gauge, swivels might not be necessary but it won't hurt, it came out very good. I did a big fix on the resistance tester, I put in two posts to measure coil resistance for a quick check in parallel with the 510 connector. I've seen a few people do the outer Clapton wrap by hand, I don't want to try that and Rip Tripper was one of them. Putting swivels in is pretty easy.
I've got more SS wire in, I needed the 30 gauge I think, I got 34 and 36 but 32 is working pretty good. A good time to put this in, You can weld Stainless Steel using a car battery. a few pieces of heavy wire going to a large copper rod and a ground plate. When the rod goes down +12 V is applied to the rod and current flow welds the pieces. It may come in handy sometime, maybe it can be used with the flat SS that is sold.

 

[Carl2]

I found this at a website
Avidartisan Daedalus Coil DIY Tool
Avidartisan Daedalus Coil DIY Tool
Special Price $25.49
Use code：MA1 to get 2% off
About half the price I paid.

 

[Carl2]

Not doing much with the Daedalus for a while, I used some premade coils to get some tanks up and running quickly. I'm having a problem getting a Smok tank running on the Pico 25, it will work with the original Pico tank in SS temp mode but a Smok tank with SS coils at the same resistance as the Pico's goes to the watts mode.

 

[Carl2]

I had a little free time and got back to using the Daedalus again, I also got a few more spools of SS wire. I just made 3 x 28 gauge wires with a 34 gauge outer wire for a Griffin 25 mini tank that came out great, I shimmed up the back edge of the table to get it more level and the spacing between wraps stopped so I got a reasonable fast wrap. Since the calculations didn't work out I got to use the Daedalus a few extra times. It's my first time using a Griffin tank and it turns out to be a pretty good tank, size wise it is great, a 3 ml tank for use on a Pico 25. Lots of space inside for building and wicking, great on vapor and flavor. Very close to the Smok Big Baby Beast.