Pretty much all of my drippers are clones. I'm not a dripper type person, but like you, I like to experiment.
As far as flavor is concerned, flavor is pretty much determined by a few factors... one is the coil build and juice, second is the airflow amount and third is chamber size.
The coil build is important, and I listed it together with the juice for a reason. Depending on your juice, you may want a hotter or cooler vapor. For example, spearmint, menthol, and citrus flavors might taste better cooled off instead of having a warm vape. This can be controlled by a higher ohm coil and higher gauge wire. Apple and Caramel on the otherhand, tastes great with a hot vape, so those are more suited to the subohms. This is more of a personal opinion though.
Airflow to me is one of the most important factors in flavor quality. You can up the airflow and blow some huge clouds, but you'll notice the flavor is not as strong. If you block off the airflow some, you'll have a tighter draw, but the flavor will be more concentrated and you'll notice the flavor quality goes up. That is why on my tanks, I never have it full open, nor on my drippers... I am a flavor junkie.
Chamber size also goes hand in hand with the airflow... a smaller and well directed airflow in a small chamber can contribute to the flavor. That is why I like the derringer, it's got a very tiny chamber.. you'll be surprised at how small it is.
Now, what sets one dripper apart from others, sounds more nitpicky, but it is important. I'll list some things I've personally noted...
The screws.. I prefer phillips heads, since the grub screws use allen wrenches... and not of a normal size. those grub screws can easily strip the allen wrench, then you're left with a dripper with no way of replacing a coil until you find that special sized allen wrench that neither Home Depot, Lowes, or Ace hardware sells.
I prefer the "hole trap" positive and negative connectors instead of trying to capture it from the screw head. when you're dealing with dual coils, it makes it MUCH easier.
Make sure you get decent screws. Some people have gotten connector areas that cut the leads instead of capture them.
I don't like my coils to be right under the drip tip. Reason being... I don't like the sputter coming off the wick to go straight on my tongue... it ruins the flavor.
Make sure you have a decent drip well. I have one bad clone where there's hardly any juice well, and the airflow goes down fairly close to the drip well. If I put more than a few drops in, juice will come out the air intake.
There are three vape shops near my house, and all three have drill presses for a reason. IF you get an atomizer, like the tugboat, and want to increase the airflow, you'll need one. Adjustable airflow helps, but sometimes can be a hinder if you want to increase the airflow on a hot dripper.
...speaking of which.. make sure it vents heat nicely. Unfortunately, the derringer has no heat sinks, so it gets very hot if you run low ohms. I try and make sure it doesn't fit totally flush with the mod, so the heat isn't transferred to the mod. On the other side of the 510, make sure the heat doesn't transfer up to your lips as well. A
small delrin drip tip helps big time with this. Also a hybrid drip tip helps
like this one.
If you're going for the clouds and not the flavor, chuff caps
like this are Recommended. Increase the airflow to max, and put a chuff cap on... the airflow will be great and so will the clouds.
Anyways, just my few words to note. I'm sure others will have more to add to this, but I believe this might give you some good ideas as to what you're looking for. Good luck, have fun, and happy vaping.
