Post pictures of your working wick and coil setup

[G-weezy]

@SLIPPY_EEL

I do save wire on the method. I waste about 4-5 inches of wire to prep the loop ready. Besides that everything is on the spool or stretched out couple feet for the clapton.

 

[CrazyChef]

Just messin' around.
4x0.5K, framed with 26K, Claptoned with 2x38K/44N

 

[SLIPPY_EEL]

@SLIPPY_EEL

I do save wire on the method. I waste about 4-5 inches of wire to prep the loop ready. Besides that everything is on the spool or stretched out couple feet for the clapton.

Normally the stripped wire is enough to fuse back on, you can stretch it out to straighten it before hand

 

[CrazyChef]

alien Framed Staple
6x0.5K, 2x26K, 36N, 0.13Ω

 

[Tom Forde]

Wicked with cotton bacon.

No edits, no touch ups. Meaning no photoshop. Just n80 colors I got off my limitless mod & a vtc4 around 3.8v. 28g framples with 4ply .4x.1mm & a 38g wrap. They should have been 6 wraps but sometimes things get complicated.

 

[Mistaree]

How's It Vap'in !! Great !! I hope... Judging from all these fantastic coil builds. I'm amazed this thread is still going, but then again... "Never underestimate the power of a Vaporhead"
AnyHoo, I've been in & out of this thread a year or more, but mostly just reading & watching from the shadows. A little brief history, in case any1 is wondering... I'm going into my 7th year vaping & I've tried just about everything vaping has to offer & I've decided that getting creative with my coil builds, is the obvious next level of vaping for me. I've been building my own coils for the last 3+ yrs & there's just but so much, that dual parallel, Clapton & twisted coils can do for you. I purchased a 12 speed cordless drill last summer & I'm ready to put it to work.

I can finally see back of my spools of kanthal, so I found an awesome deal on Amazon, for 550 ft of kanthal wire for $12.49 + $4.49 shipping.(should be here soon) But for the moment I have a few barely used spools of .05 & .08 ribbon wire & 100ft spools of 29, 30, & 32 gauge kanthal. I'm just not too sure what I can make with what I have besides Tiger wire. I survived an aortic aneurysm back in 2009, so my hands aren't the steadiest these days, but I can hold it 2gether long enuff to get a nice sub ohm, single coil out of it, at the very least, I'm a flavor chaser, but I'm most Happy, when I can get the best of both worlds. I've been making my ejuice for a little over a year now, but I vape 85% VG or higher. I drip mostly, but it seems the rebuildable tanks are finally becoming on par with some of my RDA's. I love my Aromamizer & Bellus RTA's , but I would love them even more, if I could fit some crazy kinda coil in them ..

Aww Well, I apologize for this long ... intro, but all I really want is a little guidance, toward a nice flavor chasing build. The best of both worlds would be even better, but I'm not try'n to be greedy. A nice build using ribbon wire & Oh Yeah !! I was wondering... I just used the last bit of guitar wire I had & I'd like to know, what size/kind should I replace it with ? I mean, some vaporheads say get some 26g Kanthal, others say use the Nichrome 80. Which is best to use as a core wire ? And what's a good build for ribbon wire & 29, 30 or 32 gauge wire ?

 

[Tom Forde]

How's It Vap'in !! Great !! I hope... Judging from all these fantastic coil builds. I'm amazed this thread is still going, but then again... "Never underestimate the power of a Vaporhead"
AnyHoo, I've been in & out of this thread a year or more, but mostly just reading & watching from the shadows. A little brief history, in case any1 is wondering... I'm going into my 7th year vaping & I've tried just about everything vaping has to offer & I've decided that getting creative with my coil builds, is the obvious next level of vaping for me. I've been building my own coils for the last 3+ yrs & there's just but so much, that dual parallel, Clapton & twisted coils can do for you. I purchased a 12 speed cordless drill last summer & I'm ready to put it to work.

I can finally see back of my spools of kanthal, so I found an awesome deal on Amazon, for 550 ft of kanthal wire for $12.49 + $4.49 shipping.(should be here soon) But for the moment I have a few barely used spools of .05 & .08 ribbon wire & 100ft spools of 29, 30, & 32 gauge kanthal. I'm just not too sure what I can make with what I have besides Tiger wire. I survived an aortic aneurysm back in 2009, so my hands aren't the steadiest these days, but I can hold it 2gether long enuff to get a nice sub ohm, single coil out of it, at the very least, I'm a flavor chaser, but I'm most Happy, when I can get the best of both worlds. I've been making my ejuice for a little over a year now, but I vape 85% VG or higher. I drip mostly, but it seems the rebuildable tanks are finally becoming on par with some of my RDA's. I love my Aromamizer & Bellus RTA's , but I would love them even more, if I could fit some crazy kinda coil in them ..

Aww Well, I apologize for this long ... intro, but all I really want is a little guidance, toward a nice flavor chasing build. The best of both worlds would be even better, but I'm not try'n to be greedy. A nice build using ribbon wire & Oh Yeah !! I was wondering... I just used the last bit of guitar wire I had & I'd like to know, what size/kind should I replace it with ? I mean, some vaporheads say get some 26g Kanthal, others say use the Nichrome 80. Which is best to use as a core wire ? And what's a good build for ribbon wire & 29, 30 or 32 gauge wire ?

What sizes are the ribbon spools? You could do a 6-8ply staple wrapped up in 32g.
As for kanthal vs N80, I prefer N80 because it's softer, has a quicker ramp up time & is easier to manipulate. It has a lower resistance per gauge as well vs kanthal. There's also N60, which is 60% nickel & N90 (omega wire) which is 90% nickel. Some people can argue flavor is better off N80 over kanthal but I wouldn't step into that debate.
Some other builds are fused Claptons using ribbon as the wrap, 30g or 32g cat tracks - try it with 4 cores, wrap it in the same gauge as the cores and hammer it til it's flat, framed staples, etc. I'd go with a 4 core 30g semi-flat cat track, it was the first build I threw in my Petri when I got it & got great flavor off of it.
Pick up some 50-100' spools of 26g & 24g, both kanthal and Nichrome, what I do sometimes is a fused Clapton using 1 strand of 24g & 1 strand of 26g with a high gauge wrap to minimize surface area. If your case I'd use ribbon as the wrap seeing as you don't have anything past 32g.
Also, try LightningVapes.com - they have spools of kanthal & Nichrome for really cheap. Use the coupon code LV15 for 15% off too.
Hope this helps a bit!

 

[CrazyChef]

Just a little alien action goin' on.
3x26K/36N, 0.13Ω

 

[jj6404]

Are there three verified super members who will vouch for me so I can get into the classifieds section?? I'm trying to sell some stuff. Slippy?

 

[Mistaree]

Happy New Years, Everyone !!
I'm doing my best to start 2016 off right & I obviously need some low tech tools to make some hi-tech coils & wire. Can someone tell me what kind of vise I should purchase ? I'm not sure if I should get a drill press vise, a vacuum based vise or will a mini tabletop hobby vise work ?? I'm trying to use swivels to make my Clapton based coils bcuz its getting harder & harder for me to keep a steady hand. Besides working with swivels looks hella fun & I gotta a feeling I can creative with them. I do have a few ideas float'in around in da old noggin I'm leaning towards either a used drill press vise off Ebay or a Pro Kit Hobby Vise from Amazon, so please provide me with some vapor guidance...

 

[SLIPPY_EEL]

I use a vice that sucks to a surface and then i just put the swivel/s in the vise, its good for if you want to do braided stuff to as you can tilt the vise in any direction But you have to have a good surface to suction to and it will hold for a very long time.
But a clamp would also be a good investment as you could screw your swivel to a piece of wood then clamp it to your worktop and you know for sure its not going to move once youve set it up.
A drill press vise is likely to move under pressure as you will need to keep a lot of tension on the wires as you clapton etc, unless you also buy a clamp and then clamp it to your worktop.
The suction table vise has never let me down in any situation involving making wire or making tension wrapped coils, have a look and see what works out cheaper.
I dont know what others are using or think are the best but maybe they will also let you know their opinion

 

[Mistaree]

What sizes are the ribbon spools? You could do a 6-8ply staple wrapped up in 32g.
As for kanthal vs N80, I prefer N80 because it's softer, has a quicker ramp up time & is easier to manipulate. It has a lower resistance per gauge as well vs kanthal. There's also N60, which is 60% nickel & N90 (omega wire) which is 90% nickel. Some people can argue flavor is better off N80 over kanthal but I wouldn't step into that debate.
Some other builds are fused Claptons using ribbon as the wrap, 30g or 32g cat tracks - try it with 4 cores, wrap it in the same gauge as the cores and hammer it til it's flat, framed staples, etc. I'd go with a 4 core 30g semi-flat cat track, it was the first build I threw in my Petri when I got it & got great flavor off of it.
Pick up some 50-100' spools of 26g & 24g, both kanthal and Nichrome, what I do sometimes is a fused Clapton using 1 strand of 24g & 1 strand of 26g with a high gauge wrap to minimize surface area. If your case I'd use ribbon as the wrap seeing as you don't have anything past 32g.
Also, try LightningVapes.com - they have spools of kanthal & Nichrome for really cheap. Use the coupon code LV15 for 15% off too.
Hope this helps a bit!

Thanks Tom Forde, I happen to have .08 & .05 ribbon wire, plus some 28,29, 30 & 32 gauge Kanthal. Oh & I found some old Nichrome 60 wire 28g I believe, but I don't think I have more than 6ft of it left. Amazing what u find when u decide to go thru some old shoe boxes under the bed...(lol)... And I'm pretty sure these wires are from rebuilding my old Protanks a few years back. Genuine AmazingVape Mixed 550 Feet of 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32Gauge AWG kanthal a1 resistance wire+5 PE bottle(10ml): Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
This is just 1 of the deals I found om Amazon for Kanthal wire, but the one I purchased is sold out at the moment. My package should be here next week. I know about N80's ramp up time & it being easier to manipulate, but I thought perhaps there was more to it, than just that. So what's so big about all the other specialty wires like, Gplat or Anarchist wire ? Are they made of some type of special Kanthal or Nichrome that's makes them more valuable than the regular priced wire I buy or does it just cost more bcuz of the name ? Fused Claptons...huh ?? I thought I had to use core wires the same size/gauge in order to Clapton them. So I can use 26g & a 24g piece of Kanthal and make a fused Clapton with say 32g Kanthal or N80 ?? Okay, sounds like a plan, but my only issue now, is trying to setup swivels to make my builds a little easier. I'm just not sure what kind of vise I need. I thought my son had one around here somewhere, but he loaned them out. So it looks like I'm gonna have to buy my own. The sooner I can place an order, the sooner I can post my own pics of my working coils... OH Yeah, just the thought of it, gives me goose bumps...I'm just not sure if its a good thing or a bad thing, until I vape that . I guess only time will tell, huh ??

 

[Mistaree]

I use a vice that sucks to a surface and then i just put the swivel/s in the vise, its good for if you want to do braided stuff to as you can tilt the vise in any direction But you have to have a good surface to suction to and it will hold for a very long time.
But a clamp would also be a good investment as you could screw your swivel to a piece of wood then clamp it to your worktop and you know for sure its not going to move once youve set it up.
A drill press vise is likely to move under pressure as you will need to keep a lot of tension on the wires as you clapton etc, unless you also buy a clamp and then clamp it to your worktop.
The suction table vise has never let me down in any situation involving making wire or making tension wrapped coils, have a look and see what works out cheaper.
I dont know what others are using or think are the best but maybe they will also let you know their opinion

Thanks Slippy_EEL My vape station is on an old wooden desk & to be honest, I was looking at a few vacuum base Hobby Vises that are on the more affordable side of the spectrum, since a drill press vise is a little more costly when it comes to sizes & after watching so many videos, I'd guess I'd need at the very least, a 4 inch vise or higher. 2 kinds of tabletop vises, the vacuum based vises (Dang if I knew the difference til Google...lol) and hobby vises that swivel themselves, for different angles. Amazing what u get out of vaping, that we never got out smoking, huh ? Vaping has taken me thru so many levels & it never gets old. It gets more & more exotic, the more I vape, using boges & Vision clearomizers on Provari's & Nemesis clones, to MVP's & Protank's & I'm constantly try'in something new, even after 6yrs. Now I vape various setups from .8 to .19 on a daily basis, my own DIY blend, using anything from 20g to 26g Kanthal. Twisted 2-3 strands, parallel coils & I'm about to get creative, once I replenish my Kanthal supply (that lasted almost the past 4) I'm gonna take my vaping up a notch or two, for 2016.

 

[SLIPPY_EEL]

You can also get a vise that clamps onto the side of your worktop and which will also swivel, rotate etc, that might be ideal, you'd probably cover all bases with that, i'd of bought one myself but im working off of work surfaces and tables the family use so i dont want to damage anything.

something like this -->MULTI ANGLE TABLE VICE 70MM model making, jewellery etc or this

i have this one, its Cheap but has never let me down and hasnt worn in any way -->VACUUM TABLE TOP VICE. JEWELERY MAKING, HOBBY WORK WOOD WOORKING CARVING CLAMP

i wouldnt worry to much about having plastic jaw covers or not as your wire or swivels will only pull free from this anyway, they are removable if you get a vise with them.


You'll also have to try your hand at some braided stuff once your set up, heres a couple that i made but are someone elses ideas ..


another thing worth mentioning incase its the case with your drill to, my chuck doesnt close up all the way so some wires or builds will just slide straight out, i bought a little wire vise that you can clamp your wire into then put this vise into your drill for a really secure fixing, its much better than pin vises which only last 5mins in my experience plus you can use the wire vise for things like tension wrapping etcetc etc.
my wire vice-->

 

[Tom Forde]

Thanks Tom Forde, I happen to have .08 & .05 ribbon wire, plus some 28,29, 30 & 32 gauge Kanthal. Oh & I found some old Nichrome 60 wire 28g I believe, but I don't think I have more than 6ft of it left. Amazing what u find when u decide to go thru some old shoe boxes under the bed...(lol)... And I'm pretty sure these wires are from rebuilding my old Protanks a few years back. Genuine AmazingVape Mixed 550 Feet of 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32Gauge AWG kanthal a1 resistance wire+5 PE bottle(10ml): Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
This is just 1 of the deals I found om Amazon for Kanthal wire, but the one I purchased is sold out at the moment. My package should be here next week. I know about N80's ramp up time & it being easier to manipulate, but I thought perhaps there was more to it, than just that. So what's so big about all the other specialty wires like, Gplat or Anarchist wire ? Are they made of some type of special Kanthal or Nichrome that's makes them more valuable than the regular priced wire I buy or does it just cost more bcuz of the name ? Fused Claptons...huh ?? I thought I had to use core wires the same size/gauge in order to Clapton them. So I can use 26g & a 24g piece of Kanthal and make a fused Clapton with say 32g Kanthal or N80 ?? Okay, sounds like a plan, but my only issue now, is trying to setup swivels to make my builds a little easier. I'm just not sure what kind of vise I need. I thought my son had one around here somewhere, but he loaned them out. So it looks like I'm gonna have to buy my own. The sooner I can place an order, the sooner I can post my own pics of my working coils... OH Yeah, just the thought of it, gives me goose bumps...I'm just not sure if its a good thing or a bad thing, until I vape that . I guess only time will tell, huh ??

I was just recommending going to LightningVapes.com because their spools are super cheap, and they're always 15% off with LV15.

What I've seen many people do with swivels is grab a cut piece of wood, screw a screw down like half way and have the swivel attached to that. Then they clamp down the piece of wood to the table. Or you can buy a tabletop vice and use that. The weight of it will cause it to stay still.
I don't do that however, at home I just use a regular bench vice, but it's not fixed to anything. From there I use 2 ball bearing swivels anchored into the vice with a strong swivel. I also use a corded drill.
32g is a rather thick gauge for fused Claptons these days IMO, for a 24/26g fused Clapton, try using the .5 or .8 ribbon as the wrap. I use 32g as either a multicore or as a cat track wrap or anything that needs hammering or polishing.

This is the 24/26g fused with 40g.

I like it in my Kennedy 24 because the 26g keeps the resistance a little bit higher & the 24g gives off a bit more heat. It's all N80. I suggest using the ribbon to wrap it because the ribbon would minimize the total thickness of the coi & give you a quicker ramp time.
But anyway. The reason I say to check out Lightning vapes is the pricing. That 550ft you got on Amazon would be about $20.75 on LightningVapes.
But I recommend them not because of their pricing on 50/100ft spools but because of their price on larger amounts of wire & because it's a one stop shop. Their prices are more than fair & most of the time you can snag a free bottle of juice with your order.

You could also check out kidney puncher or twisted messes but their prices are higher. The perks to those companies is high gauge wire above 40g & KP carries a lot of different ribbon gauges in n80 & ka1. Also square wire which I've been dying to try out.
I can't attest for GPlat (which is just 316L Stainless Steel), but anarchist wire is high quality N80. I've used it before, it's a good brand & the vape is good, but expensive. The only time I use branded wires like that is when asked to by a customer I'm building for. And then because it's anarchist or Royal wire I get to charge them more.

 

[CrazyChef]

10x0.5K, framed with 2x26K, wrapped with 26N, 3mm I.D., 0.13Ω

 

[Mistaree]

Beautiful....


another thing worth mentioning incase its the case with your drill to, my chuck doesnt close up all the way so some wires or builds will just slide straight out, i bought a little wire vise that you can clamp your wire into then put this vise into your drill for a really secure fixing, its much better than pin vises which only last 5mins in my experience plus you can use the wire vise for things like tension wrapping etcetc etc.
my wire vice-->[/QUOTE]
Aww Mann, are these coils beautiful...smh
Now that's what I call creative & I can only imagine what 1 of these coils vape like. I decided on getting the Bessey 2 & 3/4 in. Vacuum Base Amazon.com: Bessey BVVB Vacuum Base Vise: Home Improvement
I figure I'd better get a good 1 to last me a bit & besides, when it comes to tools of any sort, you usually get what u pay for. Plus it didn't hurt watching a few Youtube videos, before I made my choice. But back to these coils... These are really bad ..., but what's in the middle or should I say core... It looks like SS mesh ?? Either way, I'm clearly in the right place, I know exactly what I wanna do when I vape up I can't wait for my vise to get here, all I need now is a piece of wood to mount my hook screw on & a speedy delivery It feels good to know I'm in the right place, to learn what I need to know. And you say it is called a wire vise ? Hmm I'm gonna start cruising the local thrift shops, I should of thought of that b4 I gave Amazon all my money...lol But I do believe that what I bought will help me & my vaping career, in the long run. I got myself a swing arm magnifying lamp & a vise. That's my vaping budget for the month & I guess, but I'll have to wait on that Twisted Messes atty...lol

 

[jonny45378]

Twisted 27g kanthal 36g kanthal and 32g n80. 9 wraps and it came out to .97 ohms. Vapes nice at 15 watts.

 

[SLIPPY_EEL]

Yes 'M' its called a 'Wire vise', its the only one ive seen, i got it from ebay, its 115mm long, the shaft is 10mm wide so it sits in the drill chuck.
it's not essential that you own one for your building, if your wires secure ino the center of your chuck without coming loose then you are good, and even if they dont secure some guys offset their wires so you trap between two parts of the chuck, the only downside is you'll get wire wobble untill you get so far down the main wire with your clapton etc.

The build you talk of 'M', yes its plain old mesh wrapped around a 24g core wire with a simple 5 loop braid of 32g over the top, very nice vape, a guy @ Build Mode invented it, you can find them on youtube and instagram easy enough, they do some really crazy builds a lot of which i wouldnt even attempt mainly as you need peace and quite from youngsters and wifey lol, once you start a braid youre pretty much tied up for the duration, they can take anything from 5-10mins to 30 mins i suppose.

if you have any paracord hanging about you could do some practice runs to make it easier

 

[Tom Forde]

So I got my Vector in yesterday and due to extreme laziness and not wanting to build anything after getting frustrated with another interlocking alien I just made myself a simple dual 22g N80 8 wrap around a 3mm. .17Ω.
Super clean. Super easy to build on. I love it.

Edit: and now I have this to make an 18350/18500 box with