I tried the cotton from q-tips. It felt awkward trying to figure out how much to use. I've read about using the Peaches and Cream yarn. It's cotton, and already shaped into a specific, consistent diameter. I think it would fit the criteria for Occam's Razor.
Unfortunately, I won't be able to get some for 3 weeks. Not too many shopping opportunities here in the desert.
I don't teach or promote hand winding P9. Been trying to steer folks away from it to a more proper and efficient electrical build since I started posting. I realize not every one has the time to read both the threads I've been posting on. I'm not lyin'. For reals.
It's awesome you got the pin vise. So I hate to say this dude the wick goes inside the coil. Not over the bit. You feed it into the coil only after it's installed in the assembly, fired and glows like a microcoil. Then it's rigid, bonded and tight is it can get and you can proceed to wick it.
It's a delicate feed inside of 1/16" and that's what I keep telling everybody. A lot easier into 1.7mm or .07" (1.788mm) which I prefer, a slight tad loose and it feeds right in. A blind person like me can do it without magnification and it takes seconds. What you describe is WAY TOO MUCH WORK and does not produce an efficient coil. There is practically no chance of any adhesion of the coil doing it that way and the molecular bonding potential of Kanthal is lost with a hand wind.
So, build that perfect coil and try starting at 1.8mm to wick it and you will have a great vape tonight. I promise.
But don't forget to pulse it and confirm you have a properly flowing microcoil before you do! You can't recover from that. It pretty much is a standard coil from there on. You burned it in. To make a proper molecularly bonded microcoil requires that the Kanthal be virgin metal at the first oxidation. Anything after that is forming not adhesion and wil not result in the same efficiency.
There's you're answer the wick goes in the coil, not on the bit. Do the build; then, wick it.
It's tempting to consider starting all over on a new thread to show what the development of a proper coil is but it would be a major project for this user. Volunteers for the editing staff welcome though. Don't all speak up at the same time (bring hi-res cam).
Good luck.
Either 1.788 (.07", 3/43") or 1.8mm is great. 1.8 is very near the width of the slot you may have to rasp some assemblies for it to fit neatly. The more wick the better as long as you can stabilize it at the lowest point in the slot (to make things taught and limit resistance). Nextel will insert easily into either. And either Eko or silica with the "cellophane" method I describe on the Microcoil thread (the link's on my blog).
This way (, or that way), does matter on the top cup silicone. Leave it as it's installed from the factory. It's not a decoration. They don't waste money for nothin'. It's a buttress for the chimney stack coming down and provides stability for the orientation of the assembly. But more important it covers up the top of the slot to inhibit excessive juice from entering the cup. Take it out and you may risk flooding and failure of the coil and connection. Silly assumptions on this forum…and all too often repeated.
Unless you use something like cotton and can really fluff up the exits to the slot, you need a top wick. Two 1mm sections, or 1x1.5, for example if you use silica. I use a second 3/8" section of XC-132 the same as the primary wick with Nextel, it's about 1.6-1.7 in dia. You can't do without it for reason above.
The two extra pieces of wick in the juice channels are to serve as a form of gasket. When the tank goes below half-full the vacuum holding up juice is reduced. It then tends to flood. As well when the tank gets warm and the viscosity is thinned. The extra wick in the channels is a poor substitute for the loss of vacuum pressure but seems to help deter more juice from seeping down the assembly threads to the 510 connection and your mod!
Good luck malik.
Just a couple more questions please, do you have a link that you could give me for a cheap 1.788 drill bit single or in a small set? I'm having trouble locating one. 
W+C you're alright with that build. The tightest set I've achieved on that wind is...30AWG, 9/8 1.58mm i.d., t.m.c. =1.83 Ω √ as per resistance tables I post from time to time on Protank MicroCoil Discussion!!: Protank Contact (micro) Coil Resistance Tables. This thread continues the theme here with more advanced building methods and approaches to targeting temperature. I'm sure you will appreciate the data and enjoy the results.
Good luck and thanks for the ack.
