Composite cotton wick: engineered performance

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Magaro

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Decided to try an idea that came to me at work the other day. Pretty pleased with the result, so I decided to share it. Please excuse the ton of photos - just being thorough.

Been playing with some Vapers Choice long-staple cotton, which I really like as it wicks great and is strong, but it seems to hold only a modest amount of juice. I also like Drago short-staple Egyptian cotton, which seems to hold an amazing amount of juice but wicks only fair and has no strength. I decided to try to combine them together to see how they might perform as a composite wick. So here’s what I did:

Cut a 2-3” piece of long-staple cotton and carefully draw the fibers apart to create a mat.
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Pluck a small patch of Egyptian cotton and press it into a cylinder with your fingers.
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Place the Egyptian cotton cylinder on the long-staple cotton mat.
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Roll the long-staple mat around the Egyptian cotton filler. Done.
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This works most easily in a macro coil. This is 6.5 wraps of 22 gauge Kanthal around a 3mm rod on my Twisted Messes rda.
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Insert the wick and trim the ends.
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Tuck the tails into the juice well.
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Juiced up and loose fibers plucked (well, some of them, anyway).
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The obligatory pre-burn with unflavored PG/VG.
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All juiced up and ready to vape.
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Wicks like a beast and holds a ton of juice. It drains the juice-well almost as fast as I can fill it with a dropper. Other combinations of cotton and non-cotton wicking material might be interesting. Perhaps worth considering if your favorite wicking material is missing "a little something". Really only takes a couple of minutes to fabricate - way less time than a fused/stapled/tiger wire/inside-out/thermonuclear Clapton ;). The long-staple wrapper is very strong in tension and makes this wick build a breeze. Anyway, I've had fun doing this. Hopefully someone will at least find this rainy day creation entertaining.

Vape on, everyone.
 

Magaro

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suprtrkr

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Magaro

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Excellent, and thank you. This is truly a brilliant idea. Now that you've had it, and saw fit to share it, it's making me wonder about other potential composites; a rayon outer, for example, around your short-staple cotton inner. Yee-haa, fun times :)

I'm really pretty pleased with the result I got right out of the gate. Still vaping on one using unflavored at different PG/VG ratios - seems to wick and store everything very well. Totally agree about the rayon - I'm planning on ordering various synthetics, which I've barely ever used before, just to see what can be done.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
 

suprtrkr

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I'm really pretty pleased with the result I got right out of the gate. Still vaping on one using unflavored at different PG/VG ratios - seems to wick and store everything very well. Totally agree about the rayon - I'm planning on ordering various synthetics, which I've barely ever used before, just to see what can be done.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Yah, I have a small test batch of rayon already in the vape mail pipeline-- there's a Sally's Beauty Supply right around the corner, but I don't need a 3lb box :) -- and I just ordered some of that short staple cotton using your link. I believe I shall order a few pads of Japanese as well, just for grins...
 

Magaro

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I used a similar technique when I first started using Graham's Rayon. Pics somewhere in the giant rayon thread. Eventually, I dropped it as there was little benefit with extra hassle.

Obviously, building a layered wick involves more effort than cutting or peeling a piece of cotton or rayon and stuffing it in a coil. Personally, I'm pleased with the results that this approach yields. So much so that it has changed how I build both my coils and wicks for the time being. Like everything in vaping, there's no one right answer for everyone.YMMV.
 
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