When I build mine, they are spaced evenly....and about 4 little wraps are spread far enough apart to span the whole space between poles. They are about 1/16th of an inch apart. I guess I'm saying a little spread out. They need to not be touching each other, and they need to not be touching either post. I'm using 32 gauge Kanthal, and get a coil of about 1.4-1.5 ohm. If I were using 30 gauge Kanthal, I would use about 6 wraps to get the same resistence...so they might need to be a little closer together...still not touching. Hope this helps.
Also, don't make the coils too tight around the wick. The wick needs space to expand a little when it's wet. If it's too tight, it will choke your wick and you'll get dry hits. My wicks are loose (I can move them through the coils easily) before they're wet. I'm sure some wicking material swells less that others....I'm using cotton wicks and they swell quite a bit. I can slide them through the coils easily before they're wet....almost to the point of pulling them out if I'm not careful. But once they're wet, they swell up and touch the coils, which is what I'm going for.
