I think we have quite a bit in common then...I have made my own clearatty's (about the same height as an atty for dripping as well. I would love to see your design. I use black e2's (which most people just call cE2's) daily, so when the sticker wears out I strip the tube clean and use them in tanks. CE's are much easier to work with. 3/8th inch bottom tube with a half inch top tube works really well if you like the DT close to the tank but still seems fairly stable. You wont get much juice into the mini though because of the thickness of the grommets if you use a standard cE2. Use an XL and sink the grommets to the O-rings.
I you want the stability of leaving the tube then just cut a slit from grommet to grommet.
I used some of the regular length CE2 clearomizers I have and removed the shrink wrap as it isn't needed..soldered new coils on when needed and I use wicks from broken CE2's..I try to use a wick that isn't too long so it wraps around the ceramic I found it doesn't have to go all the way around though..to catch the juice that gets on the sides although no matter what I've tried the tubes fill up and it wastes a little juice (wastes more with the thick Carmel Tobacco I use because it turns dark and doesn't all vape)..it's worth it though and it's not much that is wasted..I push the wick up and put metal tubes on them then I tuck the wicks around the ceramic and tube so they catch the juice.
I pressed on metal tubes from atomizers and old shorter cartomizers I had with a bench vice. I tried a few different things like wrapping mesh around the wicks or the whole thing but I found that the simplest way works best..I'm only using them for dripping with my
DoD and it works really good..CE2's ceramic and design holds up way better than the ceramic in the atomizers I have tried. I have kept all the e-cig stuff I've bought that could be useful so I have lots of parts to mess with.
I haven't decided how I'm going to slot the tubes yet..I may grind a good amount out of both sides..I need to search through the tool box as I'm sure there is something there to grind with as my dad used to own a body shop that I used to work at..I'm a better mechanic than painter though as I have put in at least a couple dozen engines and done lots of other work on cars.
Plus I have tinkered with electronics since I was a child and I repaired consoles games for my friends game shop for almost 4 years (mostly PS2's) lol..no small rotary tool though I have been thinking of buying one though..the biggest issue will be holding the tube when grinding it drilling because they could be easily deformed. I might take some pics or video of my "CE2omizers" sometime and post something in the modding forums..they are really simple to make and last a long time..I use them until they either are gunked up or taste a bit funny and just pull them apart, rinse them, burn them off and put them back together..the coils rarely burn out unless I let them get too hot when burning them off
