Fused Clapton Building Tips for a Beginner

[nathanstokes]

Hi guys.

One of the reasons for joining some vaping forums for me was to get tips on beginning to learn how to make my own fused clapton wire. So my question to you all is, if there was one or two things that you wish someone had recommended to you before you tried claptoning your own wire for the first time, what would they be?

Further, if anyone can recommend wire in the UK, I'd love to hear it. I've tried pre-spooled fused clapton wire from Crazy Wire, and while it's ok, it just doesn't seem to have the longevity of some of the "fancier" pre-built coils using Twisted Messes, etc. wire.

All the best, Nathan

 

[keelalagirl55]

Wish I could answer your question, but I think you'll get a quicker response in one of the other forums....maybe ask a moderator to move your thread to either Coil Builds or Wick and Wire

 

[nathanstokes]

Wish I could answer your question, but I think you'll get a quicker response in one of the other forums....maybe ask a moderator to move your thread to either Coil Builds or Wick and Wire

Oops! Yeah, completely posted this in the wrong forum!! Thanks for pointing this out. Do you know which mod I should tag to have it moved?

 

[keelalagirl55]

Oops! Yeah, completely posted this in the wrong forum!! Thanks for pointing this out. Do you know which mod I should tag to have it moved?

@classwife or @retired1 are the 2 that come first to my mind...there's others, but like I said...first to mind

 

[classwife]

Moved this to Coil Builds from Tips and Tricks.

(when you need Staff to help with something the best way to get help is to use the Report feature - it goes to a Central Location where whoever is online can help )
In this case it would have been reporting the first post in the thread and requesting move

 

[nathanstokes]

@classwife or @retired1 are the 2 that come first to my mind...there's others, but like I said...first to mind

Thank you!

 

[nathanstokes]

Moved this to Coil Builds from Tips and Tricks.

(when you need Staff to help with something the best way to get help is to use the Report feature - it goes to a Central Location where whoever is online can help )
In this case it would have been reporting the first post in the thread and requesting move

Thanks for moving this. Genuinely have no idea when it comes to forums!!

 

[Dougiestyle]

To offer advice-
- Watch some vids
- Patience
- Crazy Wire is who I order from - US citizen

I use dual 26AWG 316L wrappped in 34AWG 316L. I use this as a single coil 3mm-4wrap @ .16ohm at 45W. I make the strand, by hand, about 1' with a variable speed drill and a fishing swivel. There are gadgets to make it "easier", but pending how much you plan to make, YMMV.

 

[Zaryk]

When first starting, using a larger diameter wrap wire (30-34g) makes things easier, but taxes the performance of the coil overall (slows ramp up and drains the battery faster). Try working your way to thinner wire as you get more comfortable with it. I settled on 40g wrap wire and get excellent results, quick ramp up, and they only use slightly more battery than simple round wire.

A drill and fishing swivels are a huge help, almost a must in my opinion. I ended up modifying an old sewing machine to replace the drill so I could have both hands free to focus on wrapping the wire.

Hold the wrap wire so it is coming in at a very shallow angle (closer to the side that is already wrapped). Just about 10º would be enough, too much and it will start wrapping backwards (reverse the drill and unwrap to remedy this). This slight angle will keep your wraps tight to each other and help eliminate gaps in the wrap wire.

Go slow until you get used to it. If you are going fast and something messes up, you have very little time to react before things can turn bad like snapping the wrap wire.

 

[Don29palms]

Avidartisan Daedalus. Enough said.

 

[sonicbomb]

Check out these two channels

The Art of Vaping

Twisted Messes

A good variable speed drill and a bucket of patience are pre-requisites. I don't use a swivel myself but I understand it's really useful for multicore claptons. The Avidartisan Daedalus is a cool bit of kit, but it's quite expensive.

 

[untar]

The maybe not so obvious thing to look for for a beginner would be wire tension, both the wire in the drill as well as the claptoning one. Your coil quality stands and falls with that (also really thin wire may break).
I'd suggest a swivel to fix the end not in the drill, doing it free in the air is possible but can really screw you up if you're just starting out (and also dictates a maximum length you can do at one time).
Focus on getting tension right and just do a few runs, focusing on being relaxed and not rushing it too much. Don't despair if your first runs aren't continuously good and only a few spots are properly claptoned, that'll come with experience.

 

[nathanstokes]

To offer advice-
- Watch some vids
- Patience
- Crazy Wire is who I order from - US citizen

I use dual 26AWG 316L wrappped in 34AWG 316L. I use this as a single coil 3mm-4wrap @ .16ohm at 45W. I make the strand, by hand, about 1' with a variable speed drill and a fishing swivel. There are gadgets to make it "easier", but pending how much you plan to make, YMMV.

Patience should be fine. I'm kind of looking at it a bit like knitting (not that I know, maybe I should learn how at some point) where once you've got your technique down, it's pretty relaxing.

 

[nathanstokes]

When first starting, using a larger diameter wrap wire (30-34g) makes things easier, but taxes the performance of the coil overall (slows ramp up and drains the battery faster). Try working your way to thinner wire as you get more comfortable with it. I settled on 40g wrap wire and get excellent results, quick ramp up, and they only use slightly more battery than simple round wire.

A drill and fishing swivels are a huge help, almost a must in my opinion. I ended up modifying an old sewing machine to replace the drill so I could have both hands free to focus on wrapping the wire.

Hold the wrap wire so it is coming in at a very shallow angle (closer to the side that is already wrapped). Just about 10º would be enough, too much and it will start wrapping backwards (reverse the drill and unwrap to remedy this). This slight angle will keep your wraps tight to each other and help eliminate gaps in the wrap wire.

Go slow until you get used to it. If you are going fast and something messes up, you have very little time to react before things can turn bad like snapping the wrap wire.

Thanks for this. I think I'm picturing what you're saying but just to clarify, which axis to you mean? From all the vids I've watched, I'm thinking that the wrapping wire needs to be slightly below parallel to the floor, and in relation to the core wires, if we call the drill 0º and the swivel 180º then the wrap wire should be around 75-80º. Does that make sense?

 

[nathanstokes]

Avidartisan Daedalus. Enough said.

I've checked the Daedalus out, and while super convenient, my gut says learn to do it with a more DIY setup, so once I've got fused claptons down, I can move onto more intricate wire, with confidence and solid fundamentals.

 

[nathanstokes]

Check out these two channels

The Art of Vaping

Twisted Messes

A good variable speed drill and a bucket of patience are pre-requisites. I don't use a swivel myself but I understand it's really useful for multicore claptons. The Avidartisan Daedalus is a cool bit of kit, but it's quite expensive.

I've watched through both TM and Squidoode's channels (and M Terk and some of the stuff at Local Vapes' youtube) and really enjoy it. Only thing is that it feels like cheating, instead of just working it all out for myself

 

[nathanstokes]

The maybe not so obvious thing to look for for a beginner would be wire tension, both the wire in the drill as well as the claptoning one. Your coil quality stands and falls with that (also really thin wire may break).
I'd suggest a swivel to fix the end not in the drill, doing it free in the air is possible but can really screw you up if you're just starting out (and also dictates a maximum length you can do at one time).
Focus on getting tension right and just do a few runs, focusing on being relaxed and not rushing it too much. Don't despair if your first runs aren't continuously good and only a few spots are properly claptoned, that'll come with experience.

Tension seems to be key. Someone else on another forum said the same thing, and also pointed out that it's easy to be overly paranoid and then end up putting too much tension into everything, also ending up with ....ty results.

 

[nathanstokes]

Thanks for all your help @Dougiestyle, @Zaryk, @Don29palms, @sonicbomb and @untar. Massively appreciated.

Happy to keep hearing tips from everyone here, no matter how obvious it may seem to an experienced builder!

 

[Don29palms]

I've checked the Daedalus out, and while super convenient, my gut says learn to do it with a more DIY setup, so once I've got fused claptons down, I can move onto more intricate wire, with confidence and solid fundamentals.

I understand what you're saying. I first started doing claptons by hand. Once I got the Daedalus I just set it and forget it. For me personally I have got to point where I just use either fused claptons or claptoned rectangle wire.

 

[nathanstokes]

I understand what you're saying. I first started doing claptons by hand. Once I got the Daedalus I just set it and forget it. For me personally I have got to point where I just use either fused claptons or claptoned rectangle wire.

That makes sense. I'll give it a go without for a while, and if it doesn't become the fascination that I anticipate it to be and I don't want to make more complex stuff than fused claptons I can always look at a Daedelus for just getting the job done. Plus, already have a drill and clamps, so buying a few swivels and attaching them to some scrap wood won't really add in terms of expense, which is nice.