ok so 3/32" bit and cut tip at angle, what about torching before use to firm up?
Negative with RxW, uke. It's been heated more than adequately to firm it up. That's what kilning does in the process of removing the sizing. Rather than kilning which could compromise the fiber in certain ways 3M, the manufacturer, introduces sizing precisely to give it rigidity and make this otherwise very flaccid material firm enough to handle. Kilning vaporizes the sizing and this very high temperature process tightens up the inter-fiber spaces making the material far more rigid. Enough for our purposes.
Exceed that, or heat this material too quickly and you compromise the geometry of the fibers. It will splay to no end.
Imagine a thatch of straw…now bunch it up in your hand tightly and tie it off. Voila, broom! Try to squeeze it together any more than tight and you can distort it. Well, that's exactly what torching and particularly over-torching in the hot blue zone of butane can do to Nextel…and wire too!!!
It's unfortunate that torching was seen as the means to create things for vaping and a little more thought was not put into the science. I came up with tension winding because it's "old school". Things we learned in basic science class I guess in a galaxy far, far away. Trust me, I love using my BernzOMatic, but burning vaping stuff is not one of them.
Now, once Nextel is cured and those inter-fiber spaces are well broken in, then!…you can torch the stuff to your heart's content to clean it, just as Jeremy of RBAS adequately demonstrated. It thoroughly vacates anything and everything from those inter-fiber spaces. But nothing for most circumstances that a cool rinse to hot soak wouldn't most likely accomplish (extrudes the cool contents). The less stress you subject this fiber to the better. Leave it for vaporization. It's stressful enough. What most challenges the longitivity of this otherwise indestructible material is handling.
Protect the weave. That's what keeps those tight fibers tight. And being subjected to the repeated high pressure ultra-high temperature output of a blow torch would not really be a good way to do that.
Pls post the info. I will try a 3/32 coil tmrw. 7/64 is not tight but it has been working well for me.
Biggest issue with the 3mm rw is the unraveling when trying to get it through the coil and after using for a bit.
I am all ears here
Hey pt, you're dead on and Jeremy too. 7/64 is exactly right. But Nextel shines with just the right amount of deflection. I'm still experimenting with a variety of methods to get it there. For the moment I'm suggesting 3/32" because it's a pretty accessible dimension that most folks can get to…with drill blanks and screw drivers as mandrels. And it's quite achievable and effective, evident these pictures…
Take your own and show us!
Good luck.
p.s. Why I advocate a tension wind is the uniformity you see above. A normal wind doesn't "pop" like this. That's an indication of inadequate flow. In the above it's breaking in. Once saturated it's just a smooth, dense and COOL flood of vapor BUT as warm or hot as the resistance you target. You'll just be able to dial it up more precisely.
out of focus, but I get the idea nonetheless. I have to give this a try.......
