I've been starting with a strip of 400 mesh as wide as I'd like the wick to be tall, and as long as will fit into a coil I wind on my drill bit, which turns out to be about 2.5 inches, and I oxidize both sides of that mesh well, then do a thin fold-over on the end I'll be rolling towards, start it curling with a straightened out heavy paper clip pulling my mesh between that and my thumb, then just slowly roll, taking my time with it until it's good and solid. I then oxidize that again, let it cool a bit, soak it with juice, burn that off, and do it again. When it cools I roll some more, trying to get the outside end of the mesh straight along the wick, which I'm not always able to pull off completely, but it works still.
When I have my coil mounted on the genny I pull out the drill bit, slip in the wick, spinning it in the direction it's rolled in as it goes in, not too tight, and not too loose either. Then I fire it, find the hot spots and loops that aren't glowing if any, and very gently nudge them up and down with a dental pick until the coil glows evenly from top to bottom. This method has worked well for me for the last couple years. Note: it's best to do this on a partly discharged battery so as not to pop the coil. The thinner your kanthal the easier it will pop, but I find 26 kanthal pretty durable that way.
