<<sigh>>...I've installed 3 rolled cotton wicks in my Line since last night...the first 2 where terrible
vape production wise...the 3rd which I did just an hour ago is incredible...seems my consistency is getting worse

(whoever said cotton is easier than mesh

)...point I'm trying to make is, if you make a wick from rolled cotton (or a cotton ball) and it sucks, don't write it off as "it doesn't work"...on the one I'm
vaping now I made what I thought was a stupid loose wick as far as density goes (don't know why I try and pack as much cotton as I can into the wick hole

)...seems the deal is (so far) when using rolled or balls make your wick then twist it as tight as you can...at it's tightest it should be about 2/3 the size of the wick hole you are putting it in...(I reserve the right to discount my aforementioned size/density method as complete crap at any time, but it worked this time...)
Quigs, Gummy, BJ, and everyone else (Modumust Fever kicking in. OMG!!!),
Before I found this Cotton thing you guys are working on, I had been watching a lot of YouTube Videos about Tank Rebuilds. One guy was getting shorts in his SS Mesh Wicks, so he started wrapping them with a single Cheese Cloth Thread. He wrapped it rather tightly, and very, very close together (as close as possible), but only around the upper section where the Coil would be. He said that it worked beautifully at preventing the shorts, and was much more reliable than the Cigarette Paper trick. If it did burn off, that wasn't a problem because it had created a better protection layer on the SS Wick than the Cigarette Paper trick, but I think he had said that it usually did
not burn away.
So, with that in mind, I'd like to suggest something similar. I'd do it myself and report on it, but I'm presently without my eVic (it had to be returned for replacement - sob). The thought would be to wrap your Cotton Wick (or whatever the choice of natural fiber material may be) with a single Cheese Cloth Thread, in a similar fashion, underneath the Coil. I believe that this would accomplish two things. 1.) You could set and maintain the diameter of the Wick within the Coil, keeping it from expanding too much, and 2.) It should make it easier to wrap a Coil around it (as opposed to twisting it through) [keep reading - I know some of you like being able to do twist it through]. It shouldn't burn away because the Cotton Wick will keep it plenty wet. It might even help against Gunk Build-Up. You could also extend the length of said wrap to the outside of Atomizer Chamber, eliminating the Choking problems from over-expansion that have been mentioned (in the Line and V2, I think).
And, in the same fashion as using SS Mesh around a Cotton Wick "outside" of the Coil, if your Cotton Wick was loosely wrapped with a Cheese Cloth Thread throughout the entire length, you could control the expansion to whatever degree you desired, and keep it from "blowing up" too much inside your Tank. These "Thread Wraps" would be loose enough to let the Cotton expand some, yet not done too close together, at about ⅛ to ¼ inch (3 to 6mm) separation in a criss-crossed pattern; one time up and then back down, and loosely tied off at the end you started from. If you want to maintain your ability to work a Wick though an already established Coil, then this "entire length" wrap might help with that, too, giving something to "pull" on, while still maintaining its shape without stretching it too much. If you were to use both techniques on a wick, I'm thinking that doing the tighter Coil wrap on
top of the length wrap might be best. This length wrap might be especially effective on the Cheese Cloth Wick issues I've read about.
Of course, this would make for a whole new Trial and Error phase, but I think it may have its merits, and make a wick last a whole lot longer, while eliminating some existing problems, but give a "control" and "repeatability" factor that I haven't seen yet.
I can just hear you now...
Dang it man, I'm not a Tailor!!!
I'm only up to page 295 on my reading (this is a response to thread #1355 of over 4300 now), so I hope this hasn't been suggested or tried yet. Sorry if someone beat me to it.
Wow, this must have been a whole 10¢ worth, but I know you'd rather owe it to me than cheat me out of it, so it's all good.
Please let me know what you think,
100%VG