I went ahead and followed the two board tip, but I used a paper towel on a glass table and the case for my micrometer (I had them at my table). The 635 mesh is FAR denser rolled now than I ever did by hand. I have a 2mm or so wick hole (DUD sized, whatever that is, didn't mic it and I'm too lazy to go back and do so now) and with a 65mm wick there's airspace all around it after rolling using the board method. Hand rolled for quite some time, it was hard to get the wick in - that's how much difference it made. Re-coiled a 5 wrap 30ga nichrome 80/20, this time coiling with the wick in the DUD (tighter coils, but this used to short; I was using 34ga at that time) - no shorts. Had to move the coils around a bit to get rid of hot spots, but the denser wick or the tighter coils (or a combination of both) proved to improve flavor a fair amount. Things seem to 'pop' more. Compared to a Vivi Nova 2.5 with trimmed sick (silica) this is equal or better in flavor/smoke production. Some liquids seem to do better on one or the other, but it's all in the same ballpark. The nice thing about the Genesis-style atomizer is I never get that burned wick taste, and I'm not worried about the silica fibers.
The more I tinker with the Genesis style atomizer, the more I feel like I'm not going to have something far superior to a Vivi Nova that's setup properly - but I'll have something better for long-term vaping (no burned wick) and more robust/easier to rebuild. Recoiling a Vivi isn't a big deal, but pulling apart the bit at the base of to get to the grommet in order to install new wire on the Vivi is definitely harder than dealing with the DUD now that I've gotten the rolling of the wick and wrapping of the coil + avoiding shorts/hot spots down. One thing I will say - swapping flavors is leaps and bounds easier. I just drain the tank, fill it, put a drop on the wick, and a few puffs later all I taste is the new flavor. On the Vivi, I'd have to clean it out, wicks included, or I'd taste a mix the whole time. Maybe a more experienced Genesis-style builder can chime in regarding making a DUD type atomizer leaps and bounds above a Vivi.
I'm using the DUD setup as above on a 3.3v regulated ego-t upgrade, and I don't miss using the VV twists I have in the past. Not bad for around $20 invested in the battery setup + $24 in the DUD + Pyrex tank, and it lasts me two days even with fairly decent amounts of vaping. I'm sure some liquids could benefit from slightly higher/lower temps (VV is nice, no doubt about it) - but this is good enough without much fuss.
I think my next step will be trying even larger wicks, since with the board method I could probably cram 75+mm of wick into the small DUD wick hole. I'm going to experiment with less coils, I feel like I'm getting more flavor as I step down in coil count (higher temps in a smaller area) on a fixed voltage output. I'm also going to see what doing more coils at higher voltage produces. I would think more vapor/flavor with a larger coil at the same temperature, but it also may dry more of the wick out with each draw, and take longer for fluid to fill the wick back up. Anybody done much experimentation with this and determined what's best? I could step down to 28 gauge nichrome and do 10 coils and (guessing) get something in the ballpark of the same resistance (I'm at 1.5ohms with the 5 coils of 30 gauge).
Hope this helps those starting off, but here's my current (best so far) method:
1) Get the finest SS mesh available. There may be a point at which it gets worse, but 635 is doing fine for me (though is more like silk, so doesn't hold it's shape as well).
2) Torch the SS so all parts glow red. Spend extra time around the edges, burn off the little fibers. No need to go crazy, cherry red once is enough.
3) Get kanthal/nichrome, whatever is easiest to find. Kanthal is supposedly easier to work with - but I've not really had any issues with nichrome. I use a lighter and get the length (8" or so, it's easier when it's longer to wrap) I'm going to use cherry red. Cut it.
4) Roll the SS using two hard surfaces with some texture (glass doesn't work, hence why I used the paper towel) - wood seems to do well. Roll in the same direction over and over, if you're doing it right, it'll get smaller. I take one end, fold it over as small as I can, then roll that up into something fairly loose at first, then hit it with the boards/whatever until very tight. I torch it one more time cherry red, just in case.
5) Insert wick into wick hole. I trim at this point, it's easier to wrap while it's in the device if it's shorter.
6) Tighten one end of your wire down to the ground bolt.
7) Wrap carefully, don't put too much tension, but don't make huge loops. I tend to straighten each loop as I'm wrapping it, so they are all wrapped fairly uniformly. I'm finding having the coil touch the wick all the way around is best, no air gap. You don't want it pinching the wick, just barely touching.
8) After wrapping the coil, I put a bit under the top nut on the post, on the side in which tightening the nut won't pull on the coil, but push on it a bit. I tend to pull it in a bit to bend the wick towards the center post, so when I tighten it, it pushes it away to the point at which it's vertical.
9) Test fire using something at relatively low voltage. All of the coils should light up red evenly. The top coil may turn red slightly before the bottom, that seems normal to me. If you get the top half turning red a fair amount before the bottom half, wherever the red color seems to 'stop', is generally where it's grounding out on the wick. Use a toothpick to move that area around a bit. Rinse and repeat until you're getting a fairly uniform red when you provide current. Again, the top coil may light up slightly quicker than the bottom, I think that's because it's slightly less tightly coiled, so has to heat a smaller amount of mass.
10) Check your resistance. If it's where you want it, fill and enjoy! If it's not, then you know you either need more/less coils, or you need either higher or lower gauge, depending on how far off what you're shooting for is. Coils won't change your resistance by an ohm, but they can make the difference between a few tenths of an ohm. That should get you in the ballpark.
Hope that helps! It's gotten this DUD on par with a Vivi Nova or better, without any of the downsides. It sounds a bit complicated, but after a few iterations, it takes me maybe 5-10 minutes to do all of the above (a lot of that is spent cutting mesh/torching stuff) - if I find the 'perfect' setup, I'll just torch a bunch of mesh in one go, roll it up in batches, do the same with wire, and it'll be a 5 minute process every time I need a replacement.
[Edit: I'm currently using the DUD with the fill hole bolt out. I may put it back in, as with the wick not completely filling the fill hole, it may not matter. Either way, even with the bolt out, I'm not getting any leakage with it in a cargo pocket that's horizontal when I sit. There's a little fluid in the top area (slightly damp) but that occurs when I vape. I've yet to have anything more than a very fine amount of fluid in this area.]
